Fallen
by Jayxaline
Summary: After the fall of the Irken Empire, Zim finds himself at a loss as he discovers the Tallest's strategy for "disposing" of him. Zim finds himself stuck on Earth as he no longer has a home, and eventually, begrudgingly, adapts. Not angst,just a moopy start
1. 1 Alone

"Bzzzt…..Bzzzt…….Bzzzt……Bzzzt…."

Zim growled impatiently as he watched the teleprompter continue to ring. He banged the calling button on the control panel with his fist. He had continued this process for a good five minutes before the screen finally flashed on.

"I thought we disabled all the Irken transmitters-why is one calling us?" a voice spoke from the corner of the room. Zim stared in confusion at the group of creatures seated in the Tallests' briefing room. None of them, Zim noticed, were Irken, and the Tallests were nowhere in sight.

"my Tallest?" he asked quietly, confused.

A grayish, horned creature, a Vortian. He wore a black, armored, jumpsuit, with black combat boots and gloves, a strange symbol embedding the chest portion of the uniform. Zim noted that all around the unit, the other creatures of races less familiar to him. The Vortian steeped in front of the screen, scrutinizing Zim skeptically.

"State your name, Irken" the Vortian said to Zim, then turned to the group of others, "I thought we captured them all?"

One of the members, a tall alien with twig-like limbs, giving him the appearance of a greenish-gray Irken that was stretched just beyond its capacity, spoke in an obnoxiously high voice.

"uh-er….we thought we did Sir…it-er…looks like we…uh….didn't."

"My Tallests? Where are they? I must speak with them at once!" Zim commanded, oblivious to the conversation before him. The Vortian chuckled, shaking his head, his hands behind his back.

"you poor, poor, Irken fool.-Who is this moron?! Why haven't we captured him yet?!" The Vortian barked at the group behind him.

" WHO ARE YOU!? WHERE ARE MY TALLESTS!? MY TALLESTS!? MY TALLESTS!?" Zim exclaimed, confused.

"SHUT UP WORM BAG!!!" The Vortian commanded, Zim looked at him in puzzlement. "you're a Vortian, I thought the Irken whipped you out in Impending Doom 1..." The Vortian growled angrily.

" I am Lard Nar, Leader of the Resisty and Emperor of the Higher Power. We have

taken-"

"the Resisty?" Zim interrupted, "that's a stupid name."

"SHUT UP!!!" Lard Nar exclaimed angrily. "we have taken over the-"

"why not "the Resistance" or "the Resistors"-even "the Resistors" is better".

"SHUT UP YOU SLIMY FILTH!! WE HAVE OVERTHROWN YOUR PRECIOUS IRKEN EMPIRE, now state your name so that we may find and kill you."

"where are the Tallests?- My Tallests? My Tallests!?-"Zim ignored, looking around curiously.

"we have killed your precious Tallests, along with all of the Irken species, there are-"

"LIES!!! YOU SPEAK LIES!!! WHERE ARE THEY!? WHERE ARE MY TALLEST!? MY TALLEST?!"

"oh hey! We found the info on this here Irken sir!" a crew member called from the corner of the screen. Lard Nar turned to face him, curiously."well then? Who is he?"

"it says here he is Irken Zim-"

"_INVADER ZIM!!!_" Zim chimed in.

"-er, Invader Zim, transmitting from the planet…Ee-Arth…"

"EeArth?" Lard Nar questioned, curiously. "very well, then begin locating EeArth and also, any information we have on…Zim."

"where are my Tallest?" Zim asked once more.

"DO YOU NEVER LISTEN!?" Lard Nar exclaimed angrily. "DEAD!! DEAD!! YOUR TALLEST ARE DEAD!!!"

"uh, sir, there is no planet EeArth on record, but we did manage to find "Zim" on record."

"display the information on the screen." Lard Nar ordered. His eyes then focused a little beyond Zim, reading something that Zim could not see. As he read, he began to chuckle, his chuckle turning to laughter, and his laughter becoming exuberant.

"YOU DARE LAUGH AT ZIM!?" Zim yelled defensively. Lard Nar was still laughing.

"that is very interesting, display "_Invader _Zim" once more." Lard Nar now looked back at Zim, his expression amused.

"well Zim, there is no record of you being an Invader since the-uh, "incident" that took place during Impending Doom 1. Thanks to you, most of my people were able to evacuate before the invasion of our planet began.- but it seems you were stripped of your title and sentenced to work on the planet formerly known as "Foodcourtia". Since then, at the ceremony for the selection of the New Invaders for Operation Impending Doom 2, you infiltrated the ceremony, somehow believing that you were exempt from your sentence. Then the Tallests seem to have…disposed of you…." Lard Nar finished with a giggle.

"you will never understand My Tallest's genius!! I am their secret weapon! An Invader and infiltrator of Planet Earth, on my mission to analyze these Earth Monkeys and report their weaknesses back to them." at this the room erupted into laughter. Some doubled over, including Lard Nar, while others were falling out of their chairs. Lard Nar attempted to speak numerous times before he found himself calm enough to be capable.

" you really are a foolish species, I almost pity you." Lard Nar said, once he had calmed. "yet, you seem the most foolish of them all…"

"What are you speaking? Zim? Foolish?" Zim scoffed.

"I'm sorry, poor Irken, but even your own, putrid species, have betrayed you. You should be thanking the Resisty for destroying them."

"stop speaking in lies!!" Zim hissed.

"it is not a lie; your oh so beloved Tallests, sent you on a wild Garschloffen chase. They simply sent you to EeArth so as to dispose of you. It says in the records that you have been "Terminated". well, I suppose you are as good as dead, seeing how you are so far away, not even our farthest Vortian ships can trace you." Zim was silent, looking confused. Lard Nar frowned, disgruntled.

"don't you understand? Can your puny brain not comprehend?" Lard Nar began to speak slower, " Your Tallests Are Dead!! We killed them! They Are _Never_ coming back!! Your race is done fore. You have no Empire any more… you don't even have an "Em"." he finished, looking pleased.

"Let me speak to My Tallest." Zim said quietly, his tone undistinguishable. Lard Nar exclaimed angrily, his palm hitting his forehead.

"DEAD!!! DEAD!!!! YOU ARE ALONE ZIM!!! ALONE!!! THERE ARE NO TALLEST ANYMORE!!! THEY'RE ALL GONE!!! FOREVER!!!" he screamed angrily, then sighed, turning to his crew. " don't bother anymore with this idiot, he's too stupid to find his way back, just leave him. And sever all connections to him. I don't ever want to hear from this moron again.-"

The transmission ended, the Resisty vanishing to be replaced by static.

* * * *


	2. 2 Broken

"DIB! You're late again." Ms. Bitters spat as Dib entered the room, catching his breath. He attempted to speak but his words were inaudible and overshadowed by his large intakes of breath.

"I don't need your excuses Dib. Take a seat."

Dib slumped over to his desk, his head spinning from his sudden cease in movement. He glanced down at his arm, it was still bleeding from the elbow to his wrist.

_That stupid fence…why would they put a barbed wire fence around a preschool? _He turned slightly in his chair to observe the room. Zim was absent again. It had been nearly a month since he had attended skool. Something was up, he knew it.

Dib had been suspicious weeks before now; taking a detour on his way back and forth from Skool so as to pass right in front of his base. The lights were never on, and he hadn't seen any movement in or out of it. Not even that robot rampaged around anymore. Had Zim simply took off and left? Maybe he finally gave up on the human race.

No. that wasn't like Zim.

Probably he had completed his mission, and left back to his own planet.

He had to go eventually…

It was strange though, Dib had always known this, or rather, assumed, but he never really processed the fact. For some reason in the back of his mind, he had always pictured Zim being there, in an endless battle against Dib.

The uneasiness in him didn't subside.

He realized that if Zim had left, that meant that it was only a matter of time before his planet attacked. He had to warn someone. They had to know!

Dib suddenly raised his hand, standing.

"Yes, Dib?" Ms. Bitters breathed, her expression like that of a hungry snake, ready to strike.

"uh, Ms. Bitters-I'm not feeling so well, may I go to the Office?"

"you look fine to me Dib, now shut up."

"but my arm is bleeding-"

"press your shirt against it and it will stop eventually."

"but-" Dib rolled up his sleeve. His arm was now coated in a thin layer of blood, though thick enough to make the students around him scoot their desks several inches away. Ms. Bitters growled and motioned her claw as for him to get out of her sight. Dib quickly sped away, it was his lucky break that he had gotten away before she could issue a hall pass.

Dib bypassed the Office and sped out of the building, breaking into a run as he reached the street. He sped down the streets in a rush, checking his watch periodically. How much time he had wasted. Why hadn't he informed anyone sooner. A month, he had waited a whole month! He was surprised the aliens hadn't attacked sooner.

As Dib continued to charge, he collided with a hard metal object, ramming him right in the stomach. Dib somersaulted in the air, landing on his back, coughing at the blow. He turned curiously to see what he hit and found his breath caught in his throat. Zim's robot-dog-thing was happily walking away with a large paper bag of groceries in his hands, unfazed by the collision. Dib sat up immediately, for a moment too shocked to remember his pain. Seconds later it came rushing back however, and he forced himself into a standing position, holding his stomach. The robot was trotting away, singing to itself, luckily not too fast and Dib was able to trail it easily.

He hobbled a distance behind it and followed it all the way back to Zim's house. Dib dove into the near by bushes, watching the robot intently. Dib crawled closer in the bushes, peering over the small fence, straining to see into the window. It was wide open, he could easily sneak inside then-

Dib took a shot and bolted for the door, running wildly in front of the giant lawn gnomes. He froze, under the window pane, surprised. Not a single gnome had shot at him. They hadn't even turned to acknowledge his presence. He stared at them, petrified for a moment, then, coming back to his senses, stealthily peered over the window, just enough so he could see inside.

Zim was sitting on the couch, not bothering with a human disguise, vacantly staring in front of him at nothing in particular. The robot was skipping around merrily, pulling from the bag a long feather boa, a party hat, and a very large pair of red, high heeled shoes. He then continued to place these items on Zim, who was already decorated with an assortment of knick-knacks that had apparently been there for awhile. Dib continued to stare curiously, as the robot (having shed its disguise) happily left the room and returned with a small table, and left again; returning once more with a set of small plastic pink chairs and two dolls (one a green dinosaur and one a blonde haired girl). The robot then took place in what seemed to be a tea party. It was difficult for Dib to watch. Zim's vacant stare persisted as the robot played its game, which involved him moving Zim's limbs around along with the other dolls and force feeding him tea, which simply trailed out of his mouth and down his neck.

Was he dead?

No. every once In awhile an antenna would twitch. If only he had brought his camera!

Though as he stared at the lost alien, he felt a slight twinge of guilt in these words. Such a shameful way to introduce his presence to Earth.

Suddenly the robot turned its head in Dib's direction. Dib's stomach flew to his throat and he ducked. Seconds later he peeked back up to find the robot still staring at him, smiling. The robot waved at his reappearance, then walked over to the door; opening It and forcefully dragging Dib inside. He vocally tried to explain himself but found he was at a loss for words.

He was quickly placed in another plastic chair by the dinosaur and given a cup of tea. The robot was still talking cheerily, while Dib stared at Zim. Zim didn't seem to realize he was there. Surely if he had noticed he wouldn't have permitted it. Why wasn't he screaming and shouting at Dib? Call him some absurd insult and tell him to leave his precious base at once?

Dib began to find Zim's vacant stare unnerving. It wasn't a thoughtful stare, or even a sad one, it was without any visible emotions, as if he had simply been turned off. This made Dib feel even more uneasy than the thought of him having left. He was merely an empty shell. Was he even there at all?

Dib was brought back from his thoughts at a frustrated robot attempting to force scolding hot tea down his throat too. He coughed and sputtered, the tea falling out of the robots hands and onto Dib's lap. Dib yelled at the pain, standing, knocking the table over from his sudden movement, which caused the robot to shriek as the tea pot shattered and the tea spilt all over the floor.

The abundant noise seemed to arouse Zim slightly, and his antenna twitched, his head turning in mild interest to rest on the scene.

"oh, hello Dib." he said in a monotone voice that did not seem his own. He did not show any signs of protest at Dib's intrusion. Along with that he didn't seem to show any signs of anything at all, apart from the brief recognition of his foe.

"Zim…" Dib said accusingly. Zim did not answer, but merely began to stare at the ground with the same vacant expression he had had before.

"Don't ignore me Zim! You haven't been at Skool which must mean your planning something! What is it!? Tell me now Zim! I have you cornered, there's nothing you can do!" Dib bluffed slightly, realizing while Zim could do little, Dib couldn't do much more. The robot was still crying in the background, mourning his tea pot. Zim was quiet, apart from muttering the phrase _nothing I can do…._and continued to stare at the floor.

"Answer me Zim!! Or I'll go get my camera!!" Dib threatened. Zim stayed silent, stayed still, vacant.

"did you hear me Zim? I can reveal you right now! You're guard gnomes are broken! I can come in any time I want and take pictures of your whole base!"

Zim didn't move.

"Fine! I'm going to then!…." Dib exclaimed, growing frustrated. "do you just not care about your mission anymore? I'm going to turn you in and you're not going to fight me at all?" Dib said, more in disbelief than anything else.

"why?" Zim muttered, looking up directly at Dib for the first time. Dib was silent for a second, then replied awkwardly.

" because….well uh….you'd be taken away to some lab to run tests on….or something…" Zim's expression failed to show any bit of concern.

"fine." he muttered. Dib stared at him incredulously.

"what? Really? You don't care? Why?" he asked, confused.

"_the Tallests are dead BOOM!!!" _the robot sang cheerily, skipping by, seeming to have forgotten about his tea pot. Dib's eyes widened in surprise.

"your leaders right? They're dead?"

The robot continued to skip around the room, singing. He was waving a small flag with the Resisty symbol on it. How he had come across it was unexplainable.

"_The Irky dead! Resisty instead!" _the robot sang, then squealed and ran out of the room. Dib attempted to process this knowledge, then started to laugh slightly in a manic sort of way.

"so, you're alien friends were taken over -_giggle-_so you're-_snicker-_there's no more-_snort-_you're finished!" he said and burst into laughter. "stuck on Earth!" Dib exclaimed, still laughing. The Robot entered the room again and stood next to Dib, joining in his laughter. Zim continued to stare at the ground, broken.

* * * *

Dib skipped jubilantly home that day, excitement filling him to the brim, so much so that he had an intense urge to release it. He had to tell someone.

He found Gaz sitting in the living room, the television on, showing some commercial involving a manatee, a sponge, and a large hunk of cheese. Gaz however wasn't paying attention, staring intently at the device in her hands. Dib was unfazed.

"Gaz! I have great news!" Gaz ignored him but he plowed on in a descriptive explanation, although leaving out the more embarrassing bits and replacing them with his heroic conquest.

"-and so, I'm going to contact the Swollen Eyeball tonight and show them the pictures I was able to acquire, they should be capturing him within the next few days." Dib finished proudly. Gaz had been silent all through his story, while intently jabbing at buttons on her gaming device. But to Dib's surprise she responded once he finished.

"stupid. Why would you want them to take Zim away? What would you do then?"

Dib was silent for a moment, it was such an obvious question.

"I would distinguish myself as a scientist and continue my investigations on paranormal studies, using my notoriety to discover all the things the government has been keeping hidden, I think my first act will to be to read the files on Area 51-"

" you're even stupider than I thought, and that's saying something." Dib stared at her, confused.

"what's that supposed to mean? I discovered an alien, I-" Gaz sighed, exasperated.

"how old are you Dib?" she asked irritably.

"you know how old I am, I'm your broth-"

"just answer the question!"

"ten. Why does that matter?"

"exactly. You're ten. And when, Dib, was the last time someone actually took a ten year old boy seriously about anything, let alone you?"

"well…." Dib muttered, thinking.

"that's right, they haven't."

"so? Once I show them the alien they'll believe me!"

Gaz snorted, shaking her head.

"you really don't know adults do you?"

"what are you talking about?" Dib asked irritably. Gaz sighed again, tossing her game aside to actually stare him in the face.

" if you tell that eyeball butt guy he's going to take Zim away right? Well, do you really think that someone who has flesh and bone proof of a real life alien is going to pass up credit for it against a ten year old boy? Do you _really_ think that when it comes down to it, that that butt guy is going to tell whoever the heck he gives them to that _you _discovered the alien? No. he's going to claim the credit, after all, who would they believe? An adult, or a ten year old boy who has been admitted to a psyche ward twice, and submitted to five different shrinks over the past three years?"

Dib was no longer even muttering responses, he felt his heart plummet. Although Gaz would do anything to torment him, he knew she had a point.

"and _that guy's _probably not even gonna get the credit either! Probably some fart bag in the government that the eye guy gave him to will get it. And when that happens, and Zim's taken away, what will you do? He's the only proof you've ever had of your crazy space alien junk. Do you really think you'll ever hear from Zim again? No. they'll probably do whatever they did with anything else they found and cover it up. What are you gonna do? Wait for another alien to fall from the sky? You turn him into them and you're done for. You'll be just like drooling green Zim, sitting on the couch with no purpose left." Gaz finished, picking up her game and starting it again. Dib stared at her with new found appreciation. It was the first acknowledgement she had ever given him and all his paranormal investigations. Though still in deep thought about what she was saying, he thanked her, only to hear a grunt about his big head and what little use it did if there wasn't a brain inside it.

* * * *

Dib stayed up late that night, studying the pictures he had taken. In all of them Dib could see Zim's vacant expression, him staring off into space, at a loss. Gaz's words came back to him. He sighed, though his mind wanted to go against it, what she said actually made sense. They never really had believed him before. Why would now be any different? He was only a kid. And since when had anyone ever acknowledged a kid.

He wondered, would he be just like Zim if Zim were taken away. Sitting on his couch, with that vacant stare on his face. At a loss of purpose?

He could imagine Gaz decorating him much like Zim's robot did to him. Humiliating him with tea parties and costumes? Dib found it more difficult to look at the pictures after that.

_He's an Alien. He's the enemy! Don't feel sorry for him. _he told himself, but a nagging part in the back of his brain said differently. The part that kept seeing Dib on that couch, with Gaz stringing tinsel around his neck.

Dib tossed the photos into a desk drawer, feeling nauseous. He turned over in bed, facing the ceiling. It was odd…not once, Dib realized, had he ever compared himself to Zim. Not once had he even considered the fact that Zim was anything more than an evil creature come to destroy Earth. It was like those children TV shows he used to watch when he was younger. Just the good guy vs. the bad guy. The bad guy didn't have feelings or emotions. There was no other side of the story. Only good and evil, right and wrong. You never felt bad for grotesque looking beast, you just killed it and you were a hero…

The image of Zim's vacant stare as Dib had laughed at him, taking his photos…those hollow red eyes, that unfamiliar voice….the thought of being completely alone on an unfamiliar planet…..

Dib attempted to shrug off these thoughts but they kept creeping back up on them, haunting him in his sleep….


	3. 3 The Surgery

Three days had passed since Dib had acquired the photos and still he hadn't contacted the Swollen Eyeball…he hadn't even opened the desk drawer. Dib found himself at a loss, thoughts stirring in him that he was now surprised he had never considered before. He could recall, when younger, wishing for nothing more than to witness an UFO crash landing; to see a real life alien face to face; to have some sort of assurance that all of his fascinations were based on fact. Before Zim came, Dib had found himself becoming more and more desperate. Having pursued Aliens his whole life, he had witnessed many disappointments. Any lead he ever thought he had, turned out to be somehow plausibly false. Dib became willing to connect _anything_ to extraterrestrials, if that meant his theories were true. He was on the edge, about to lose hope….

Then he came along.

Zim had refueled his obsession. Again, he found himself constantly working, constantly investigating, staying up days on end at his computer with little sleep. He hadn't been so active since he thought he had found the child of Bigfoot (which turned out to just be a really hairy child).

It felt wonderful.

He realized what that would mean to turn Zim in. Gaz was right, Aliens didn't just drop onto your doorstep every day. And he had wanted to send him away. Instead of taking advantage of his presence by learning from him, he attempted to frighten him, (even kill him a few times…). He could have spent this time attempting to learn about Zim's species and home planet. Heighten his own knowledge that he had craved for so long. Perhaps if he had befriended Zim, then Zim wouldn't have the desire to invade Earth…

But wait…that was right. Zim didn't come to Earth to make friends, no….Zim despised the planet, he wanted to destroy it...Zim hated humans, he would never befriend anyone…he would rather die than reveal his mission and betray his leaders….

But they were dead….

His whole species was dead….

He was the only one left….

There was no mission anymore,

No more threat…

Zim was trapped on Earth, which he would probably be forced to remain at as those who killed his species would surely kill him if he returned. Maybe it wasn't hopeless, maybe Dib could still learn from Zim, maybe….

Dib came out of his daze and realized his feet had dragged him right to Zim's house. He found himself staring at the multicolored oddity, with its unnerving giant lawn gnomes, pink flamingos and puffer fish, leading up to the Men's restroom sign door. Dib took a deep breath and started walking to the door, he hated Zim, and he hated the idea of being nice to him, but more so he hated the idea of letting an opportunity pass while an alien was still present…

He sighed as he reached the door,

After all, if Zim didn't participate, he _could _still turn him in to the Swollen Eyeball and hope for the best….

* * * *

Dib froze in the doorway, petrified. After a few minutes of waiting after knocking with no reply, he merely opened it, finding it unlocked. What he saw however, made him want to close the door and pretend he hadn't.

The television was blaring an overly cheery theme song for an obnoxiously happy show, which, at the time, made the scene just all that more eerie.

Zim was on the floor….laying with his face to the ground, his body sprawled as if he had fallen. Next to him, was a crushed and warped heap of metal, which Dib, once he bravely stepped closer, identified as Zim's Pak. Dib's stomach flew to his throat. He looked around him desperately, perhaps the robot could tell him what was going on.

He found the robot in the kitchen, also on the ground, his normally glowing blue eyes were dead and lifeless. Dib realized the gravity of the situation and hurried back to Zim, crouching beside him and turning him face up.

"no…no! you cant be dead now! Not when I need you!" Dib exclaimed frantically poking him, becoming more violent the more he prodded. Finally he slapped Zim right across the face, causing Zim to make a groaning noise. His eyes opened a fraction of an inch, such a small amount that Dib wasn't completely sure he had.

* * * *

Zim felt weak. Weaker than he had ever felt before.

As though all his energy had completely drained.

He couldn't think,

He couldn't move,

His vision had gone all dotty and spotted….

But, he could feel.

As though hundreds of tiny little snorpblargs were pecking him all over, their sharp beaks practically digging into his skin. He attempted to speak. Attempted to make some sort of protest but he was unable to locate his voice.

Suddenly, he felt a hard blow to the face, and an involuntary noise immediately leapt out of him. He now focused his energy on opening his eyes; trying to see what it was that was causing him so much pain. His death clock had counted down to 6:00. Only six more minutes. Why couldn't they just leave him alone for his remaining time?

He was able to get his eyelids to move, just barely.

Everything was extremely blurry, and he could hardly make out shapes, only dull shades stood out in his mind. An exceptionally large shape stood out in particular, pale and circular, black on top, the black portion twisted into an odd form like a single reversed antenna. The thing was speaking to him. But Zim couldn't make out a word, the voice muffled as though he had been dunked in a tank of thick jelly.

Zim became mildly aware of moving somehow, although he wasn't even attempting to exert using his limbs. Following this, he was overcome with a sensation of weightlessness. This sensation made him dizzy in his weak state, and it was merely a matter of seconds before he blacked out.

* * * *

"It was lucky that you brought your little green friend to me when you did, Son. Any longer and I think we might have lost him…that poor, poor mutant child." Professor Membrane said, going to scrub his hands in the lab sink. "But, Dad, didn't you notice anything…odd, about him?" Dib asked hopefully. Professor Membrane turned to Dib, looking off thoughtfully.

"Yes, well, this poor child has obviously suffered from some traumatic event that has rendered him _hideously deformed_! But there is nothing unusual about that. It's just a good thing he has a friend like you, Son, for it takes a wondrous human being to accept this boy and his _horrible_, misshapen self. What with his green skin, his odd antenna-like head deformities, his pupil-less eyes and his organs all morphed together into a repulsive blob…it truly is a wonder that this boy is alive…" Professor Membrane finished, clapping his hands together.

"Well, my job here is done. Professor Membrane, saves the day once more!" he said and started for the door.

"But Dad! What about the fact that his brain was in that backpack thing!?" Dib exclaimed desperately. Finally, proof that he wasn't crazy. Proof that all of the things his father had contradicted were true. Proof that his "Para-science" as his father called it, wasn't just a bunch of myths…and yet…

"Ah, yes." His father said, knowingly, " clearly this poor child has been worked on before, by some other surgeon no doubt. His brain was obviously born out of his horrendous body and the surgeon, evidentially a less skilled scientist than I, unable to assemble the boy's brain inside his head, assembled it in that protective Pak." he finished, nodding his head in a reassurance of his superior deduction skills.

"However, that cruel surgeon added a few modifications to this poor child that I have removed. Devices stunting his growth, limiting his learning capabilities, causing sleep deprivation and programming his mind in _obscenely horrendous ways_! The thing was more of a robot than an actual human. It was tricky, but I removed them without doing any damage to the temporal lobe and replaced all robotic functions with the best organs my laboratory possessed! Anyone less ingenious than I, I dare say, would not have been able to accomplish such a trivial task!" He stated, leaving the room.

Dib stared down at Zim's unconscious form, slightly irritated.

….nothing….

All that evidence in front of him, and his father still wouldn't admit to anything supernatural. He merely classified _every single piece of evidence as a hideous, but perfectly normal, deformity. _

_Dib glared at Zim, who was back to his healthy green color, twitching or moving occasionally. He was unconscious, but clearly alive. _

_Dib mused over his uncharacteristic actions, wondering if he had done the right thing…_

_At the time he hadn't even considered the consequences of his actions. All he knew, recalling his previous incident with the Pak, that without it, Zim would die, and that if Zim died, so would the only evidence he had that extraterrestrials did, in fact, exist; and that his searches, theories, and research weren't in vain. He didn't know what he would do with Zim still alive, if it would benefit him or not later on, but he didn't want that to cripple him later in life, he didn't want that decision made for him. _

_He acted the only way he felt he could act, and rushed him away to the only place apart from Zim's base, that had the technology equip for handling the situation. _

_His father did most of the work. He had always seemed more interested in Dib's affairs whenever they had to do with "real science", surgery on Zim, apparently fitting that category. _

_He wasn't sure whether or not he was grateful that his Dad had written Zim off as nothing more than a misshapen human. On one hand it made things easier for Dib, with his Dad not turning Zim in himself and receiving the credit; but on the other hand, his father remained as disbelieving and disinterested in Dib as ever, not giving him the slightest acknowledgement except when it directly involved his "little green friend". _

_Dib sighed, backing away from the operating table and to a short workbench stool in the corner of the room, awaiting Zim's awakening. No doubt Zim wouldn't react well to his surroundings…_


	4. 4 Colorblind

**Note: see, this is where the author's opinion drastically improvises from that of the true television show and its creator to whom I worship. So please, be open minded when reading, all is relevant in the end.**

Dib awoke to the sound of a horrendous, blood-curdling scream. His eyes shot open and he found that he had fallen asleep in the chair he had been sitting in, waiting for Zim to wake. He glanced at the operation table and saw immediately what was making the noise. Zim was wide awake, sitting up on the table, screaming at the top of his lungs, his head darting around wildly. Dib noticed he was still wearing his contacts although his wig had been removed in surgery.

Zim's eyes caught Dib and immediately he hopped off the table, storming up to Dib and grabbing him by the shoulders, shaking him wildly.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME YOU FILTHY EARTH SCUM!??! WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT TRICKS HAVE YOU ATTEMPTED TO PULL ON ZIM!??!" Dib could only openly gape in reply, still not fully awake. Zim was still yelling and screaming at Dib when Professor Membrane strolled in, humming rather cheerily, seemingly impervious to the scene laid before him.

"DAD!!!" Dib called helplessly, "DAD!!! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!"

At this Professor Membrane looked up from the lab table he had been working at, to stare curiously at Dib and Zim, who was not aware of the conversation and was now flailing about wildly.

"oh hello Son, I see you're little foreign friend is in good spirits.

"He's screaming and flailing on the ground!" Dib said exasperatedly motioning to Zim-now running around the lab, which he found difficult as he had not yet quite gained the strength back in his limbs, not having used them since the operation.

"ah, yes, so he is. The normal behaviors of a child who has been given the _wondrous gift of sight!!!_" Professor Membrane explained. Dib stared at him confused.

"But Zim wasn't blind…"

"colorblind. One in the same. Poor, poor hideous boy." Professor Membrane said, shaking his head. Professor Membrane walked over to where Zim was-who had just fallen to the floor, having hit the operation table In his panic. He then pulled a needle out from his lab coat and injected it into Zim's arm. Zim-who had attempted to stand up while still hollering-fell back to the ground in a sitting position, his screams dying down.

"_Now _what did you do!?" Dib exclaimed, preparing for the worst.

"his vitals will have skyrocketed from his accelerated brain activity, 'causing the scene you have just witnessed. Reactions vary but generally screams of joy such as that are common."

"that wasn't joy! That was-"

"NEVERFEAR MY SON!!!"

"I wasn't-"

"YOUR REVOLTING FRIEND SHALL BE NORMAL ONCE MORE!!!" Professor Membrane proclaimed, leaving the room heroically. Dib was left with the drugged Zim, who was now vacantly staring off into space, though much differently than when Dib had previously come across him.

Dib hesitantly stood, walking over to Zim and gazing down at him analytically. Zim was removing his contacts, looking around, then replacing them once again. He noticed Dib and glanced up at him curiously; calmer than Dib had ever seen him.

"what is this thing you have done?" he asked again, his voice no longer loud and boisterous. Dib looked at him curiously. For once he did not feel threatened by his presence and fully had the upper hand. He grinned slightly at the thought of having Zim at his mercy. However, on further inspection he began to feel the same feeling he had had when seeing the emptied Zim at his base. Was it pity? He sighed, seeing the purely innocent expression of the poor drugged alien.

" that's color. That's what everything really looks like." Zim looked at his hand thoughtfully.

"why have I not before seen this "color"?" he asked suspiciously.

"well apparently your species is colorblind."

Zim looked confused. Dib sighed again, already losing patience. All his built up rage and hatred for the filthy beast that had bubbled to the surface was being forcefully pushed back as he tried to recall why he took Zim to his Father in the first place.

"what you see now, all those different shades, that's color. And when you cant see those shades that colorblind. Do you understand?" Already Zim was distracted, feeling his back frantically.

"where's my pack?!" he asked, his voice still monotone from the sedatives but slightly elevated.

Dib continued on to explain as much as he could of the last few hours. Zim listened attentively, responding only occasionally, more and more so as the sedative began to wear off.

After an hour of answering questions Zim's voice was beginning to develop its pitch again and he found himself able to stand.

Zim began to pace back and forth in the lab, staring at the ground. He took his contacts out, as they distracted them too much from thought. He had began plotting the downfall of the Resisty. Surely there had to be at least a few Irken still out there; their numbers had ranked in the millions, with thousands of different species. The Irken occupied the majority of the Galaxy's planets, how could the Resisty have possibly destroyed them all? It was impossible. Zim could easily gather up the survivors and form his own resistance, and overthrow the Resisty, avenging the Irken Empire!

Zim grinned at the thought.

However, the sedative left in him, along with a combination of other unexplainable reasons, caused him the be much more capable of contemplation than usual. His thoughts faltered at the realization that he was nowhere near any documented planets, the closest being the location of the Armada (located by his own tracking device). If he were to fly anywhere in range of them they would easily shoot him down.

Zim grimaced, pacing quicker and in further strides, from once side of the Lab to the other, unaware of Dib's continuous jabbering. If only he had a fleet of his own to go into battle with, then he would at least stand a chance.

Zim froze, glancing at Dib curiously.

"Dib-Human." Zim addressed seriously. Dib stopped mid-rant to look at him curiously. "you Earth-Monkeys have ships do you not?"

Dib looked at Zim, confused. "uh, aircrafts? Yeah."

"and who runs these crafts of yours?"

"uh…NASA?" Dib answered hesitantly.

"How do I meet this "Nahsah" Person?" at this Dib laughed slightly. "NASA's not a person, it's The **National Aeronautics and Space Administration**. It's an agency of the Government, responsible for the nation's space program. It first started in-"

"silence!" Zim interrupted irritably. "how does one get into "NASA"?" Dib looked startled.

"you can't get into NASA!! It's heavily guarded and protected, if I were an alien like yourself especially, you-"

"Shut up meat bag. I wish to know how to become a NASA." Dib looked incredulous. He stared at Zim surprised for a few moments before finally answering in a roar of laughter. Zim glared at him patiently, waiting for him to stop.

"an alien wants to become an astronaut!!" Dib exclaimed, still laughing.

"I know nothing of these knots, now tell me, how can I become a NASA?! I must avenge the Irken Empire!"

Dib paused, looking thoughtful.

"sounds to me like the Resistance did Earth a favor. Why would I help you destroy them?" Dib stated.

"The Resisty are more vile than a jelly sack like you could ever comprehend!" Zim exclaimed hatefully. Dib raised an eyebrow. "the Resisty? That's a stupid name." Zim nodded in agreement. "anyway, they can't be worse than you're species." Zim glared at him, seething.

" YOU FOOLING EARPIG!! THE RESISTY WILL ATTEMPT TO DESTROY YOU ALL JUST AS THE ALL MIGHTY TALLESTS DID!!! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK ANY CREATURES HATRED FOR YOU COULD BE ANY DIFFERENT?!"

"Earpig? Anyway, if I helped you then you'd just destroy Earth too…"

Suddenly a thought struck Dib, and he reconsidered. Using Zim as an example then it wasn't exactly surprising that his species was overthrown, however, he would much prefer Zim's incompetence to the possibility of perfectly competent aliens attempting to destroy Earth.

"YOU KNOW NOTHING!!! YOU'RE IGNORANCE WOULD BE HUMEROUS IF IT WASN'T OVERSHADOWED BY THE PITY THAT BEFALLS-"

"fine I'll help you."

Zim stopped mid-sentence, surprised.

"but you have to agree that if I help you, and you succeed in overthrowing the other Aliens, that you wont destroy Earth." Dib warned. Zim nodded.

"okay." he lied calmly. Stupid humans.


	5. 5 Eight years later

**Eight years later…**

Her footsteps echoed sonorously down the long street, the damp pavement glittering as a result of the light from the lone street lamps reflecting against the millions of water droplets that littered the sidewalk, the effect disorienting to the hooded figure as she ran by.

The neighborhood was at its most silent time, the silence only occasionally interrupted by the sound of a car in the far distance or a dog barking, sensing more foul weather to come. So late into the night it wasn't surprising that her presence was inconspicuous- yet the isolation of her made her doubly conspicuous at the same time if anyone were to glance outside. She cursed the sound of her boots slapping against the ground for this very reason, wishing that there were a more convenient way to travel.

She had little time to brood though, as she knew her time was very limited. It was impossible to tell if she were being watched-or followed; they had disregarded this place for so long- however, they couldn't disregard it forever…

Navigation was admittedly harder at night, however, without MiMi she had no holographic disguise to shield her, and she didn't dare risk exposure by waiting until the day. Fortunately, her vision was more adaptable to such a dark environment than the locals, and it wasn't too long before she was able to distinguish familiar settings…her key landmark being the Skool. She grinned, pleased, her mind reeling briefly back to those memories of so long ago…and along with her recollections came that rage that had flooded her, building up over the years…and the hatred, that she had to force that rage down. More than anything, she hated herself for what she was doing- it was cowardly, but in such times self preservation meant more than pride. Or at least that was what she continued to tell herself as she darted from the Skool and down the familiar streets, her destination not far away…almost there…

Suddenly she froze, standing stock still and staring in disbelief at the vacant lot between the two houses. Even in the dark she could make out the indents in the ground where the grass had been pressed down by immense weight for so long…and the gaping crevasses in the neighboring houses' walls. However, apart from that, there was no trace of the nauseatingly distinct house that had once rested on that lot.

The rage the hooded figure had compressed began to push its way to the surface; speeding swiftly through her body, causing her to tremble. Her breathing became ragged, her fists and jaw clenched as she stared angrily at the vacant space. A low growl began to buzz from her lips, growing in volume as her ferocity enveloped her entire being- rising to a glass shattering roar which pierced through the night, soon accompanied by a symphony of barking dogs and car alarms, displeased with the night's disturbance.

"No, I'm telling you you're wrong! Why won't you just accept defeat?"

"NEVER! GELATINOUS ANTHROPOID! ZIM IS NEVER WRONG!"

"Yes, you are! -All the time!" Dib argued, exasperated. They were getting nowhere and their combined efforts had crippled progression immensely on their project.

"COMPUTER!" Zim exclaimed, "CONFIRM MY STATEMENT!"

"SHlooooooog MORpARnnnnnn…." The computer murmured in an incoherent string of varying tones and syllables.

"Idiot!" Dib retorted irritably, "it doesn't know anything! That's why we're fixing it!"

"IT NEEDS NOT KNOW ANYTHING TO KNOW THAT ZIM IS RIGHT!" Zim replied, still yelling deffensively in his arrogance.

Dib sighed, closing his eyes, his fingers pressing against his temple where he could feel a headache emerging. Zim was off on a tirade again, marching around the base, his arms in the air, with no sign of stopping any time soon.

"Could you just shut up for a minute, I'm trying to think." Dib attempted to say calmly, however Zim's high volume made it impossible for even himself to hear his own words. He sighed again, opening his eyes and watching Zim for a moment, assessing the situation and confirming his suspicions that his rant would be a long one. Realizing this Dib turned and left the room, passing right by Zim who was too caught up in his own speech to acknowledge his departure. The lift doors closed, giving Dib a last glance of the Irken; the smoking, fried computer panel behind him, grateful that for now at least the lift seemed to be functioning properly.

He arrived in the main room, strolling over to the kitchen, grabbing himself a soda from the fridge and plopping down onto the couch, perching on an elbow while sprawling his legs out to cover the remaining room on the sofa. He grabbed the remote lazily, pointing it at the television, which clicked on, flooding the room with sound. He scowled angrily, his headache only growing despite the fact that he quickly lowered the volume, flipping the channel away from the obnoxious children's show in hopes of finding something better…unfortunately that's where his luck ran out as he found himself incapable of finding another station. He cursed quietly- it was worse than the TV not working at all. In desperation however he simply muted it, watching the seizure-inducing multi-colored program with blatant opposition however mild acceptance; his mind drifting to other issues.

The paint seeped into the blank white canvas, flooding the final section with a violet tinge that mixed well with the still damp fuchsia, ceasing at the thick black lines. A small trace of a smile crossed Gaz's lips as she stepped back to examine her work. Finally it was finished.

She sensed the presence before it was completely behind her, and she grimaced as she felt the disapproving stare of the instructor as he also surveyed her painting, an almost inaudible tut emitting from his lips.

"What?" Gaz dared in a calm, quiet voice. The instructor, oblivious to the small hints of foreboding in her tone and misinterpreting her statement for general curiosity of his opinion, pressed onward.

"Well it's lovely Gaz…however, I was hoping that perhaps for once you'd create a more…cheery piece?" He stated, his tone reminding her unfortunately of an old elementary skool teacher that she particularly detested. She fought back the twinge of detest with some difficulty- what would have been normally an overlookable and effortless task, trying because of the large quantity of rage she was already feeling for her so-called instructor. She had had similar conversations with him numerous times and they all ended the same way- she was very close to being done with it all.

"It has pink and purple in it. How much more cheery can it get?" Gaz commented sarcastically, to which, of course, the instructor missed.

"Yes, yes; while the colors are wonderful, they unfortunately…how do I put this lightly? They seem to emphasize the violence that is taking place in the scene, conveying it as even more dark and…gory."

"Well you said not to use red anymore, so I didn't." Gaz stated coldly.

"Yes, well I was hoping that by not using red you would verge away from your…proneness to…gore…however, you merely replaced red with pink!"

"I believe you were right- pink gives it a much more unique appearance."

"That was not my intention!" the instructor stated. Gaz growled inaudibly. "It just seems to lack creative initiative- all this nastiness! Why don't you try something nice and happy like I suggested? Maybe something with rainbows and-"

"Look." Gaz said, turning to face him, her eyes meeting and locking into his. " I've been coming to this class every Tuesday and Thursday for _two_ years now, do you know why?"

The instructor was bearing a similar resemblance to that of a deer in headlights…

"Well I can certainly tell you it wasn't to have some _fucking moron _try to teach me how to _fucking_ paint- I _already_ know how, obviously, or I wouldn't have gotten into this _fucking_ pretentious class- taught by some _fucking pretentious douche _who got stuck with this gig because his own art career didn't pan out like he wanted it to- just so I can have him take it out on his _fucking_ students to channel his aggression and make himself feel better. I don't need this! I don't _pay you through the fucking nose_ to tell _me_ to have more creative initiative! The only reason I attend this _fucking _class at all, and the only reason I pay _your _sorry ass is so that I can have this school on my resume and maybe actually go somewhere." She finished angrily, her voice never hiring in volume, yet somehow keeping him mesmerized through every word; so much so that by the end he was trembling; incapable of speech. He knew what she was capable of- everyone did, and it was the reason she had transferred out of four different art classes that year and the reason hardly any other teachers were willing to accept her. He was terrified he would be teacher #5.

Instead, to his luck, Gaz merely sighed, turning to her painting and gently lifting it off the easel, grabbing it in a way so as not to smudge the paint.

"I can see I'm wasting my time here. I'm leaving." She stated simply, turning and walking out the door, picture in hand, the instructor (and all of the students who had fallen silent fearfully) watching her as she left; all simultaneously sighing in relief as she left the premises.

Dib's peace was short lived as he heard a gleeful scream erupt from somewhere in the bowls of the Base, growing closer and closer until it was at full volume, accompanied with the clanking of metallic feet as they scurried across the linoleum floor; sliding over to the door to stand by it in happy anticipation, indicating, as always, his sister's arrival. He watched the robot's progress and found that, as usual, he reached the door just in time for it to open, Gaz bursting through the door in an angry rampage; slamming the door behind her. The robot, unfazed by her mood, cheered happily at her return, following in her steps as she stomped into the kitchen, setting the painting on the table then going to the fridge to grab herself a soda; returning to plop down on the armchair near the couch, the robot hopping on top of her lap happily, which she seemed to accept apathetically.

"Don't you have your own house?" Dib commented, his attention turning back to the animated drug-tripped TV show.

"Not today Dib." Gaz warned, opening her soda with a click, followed by the hiss of the carbonated beverage greeting oxygen. Dib chanced a glance curiously, debating whether to press the issue or not, concerned for his own safety. She seemed rather calm- clearly angry, but calm-and the door was still intact so her temper couldn't be too severe.

"I'm guessing by the painting that it was your art instructor again?"

"Your powers of observation astound me as usual dear brother." Gaz replied, her voice dripping with malice and sarcasm. Dib flinched slightly, but continued, curiosity getting the better of him. "I thought he was in the hospital though?"

"This is the new one." Gaz stated simply, sipping her drink and also staring at the television. Dib hesitated on a response, however, he found no need for it for at that moment Zim emerged from one of the lifts.

"DIB!" He called, though his volume was unnecessary. Dib turned his attention to the sound, having completely forgotten that he had left Zim down there. "We seemed to have underestimated our diagnosis on the prognosis of the Computer's present status." He stated, walking up to Dib, his hands behind his back as was his favored stance. His attention was caught by Gaz however and he paused before further elaborating, his eyes meeting hers. She glared at him, daring him to speak, to which he turned to look at Dib, who gave him a look, informing him that addressing the issue of Gaz's presence would be unwise. Zim followed his suggestion and turned his attention back to Dib, looking once more agitated.

"Why do you say the diagnosis was flawed?" Dib inquired uneasily. He wasn't sure if he could handle more bad news.

"It seems that the Computer's malfunctioning software affected not only the entire base level but is beginning to affect even more of the lower levels- and the plumbing." Zim stated displeased. Dib grimaced.

"So it's growing? That's not good…" he said, half to himself, looking thoughtful. Zim nodded.

"Therefore repairs will take much longer than originally anticipated."

"How much longer?" Dib asked, not commenting that whatever length it took would be doubled by their incessant arguing.

"Perhaps an entire Lunar Cycle."

Dib cursed.

"Another month? We don't have that long! Especially if it's already affecting the plumbing- and I don't wanna know how you know that." He stated. The Robot had begun to amuse itself by singing; rocking back and forth on Gaz's lap while she listened to the conversation with mild interest. It wasn't in her particular expertise, but she couldn't help but be curious- especially since she figured she knew just as much at least as those two did and was certain that she could probably repair it in half the time, with her limited knowledge of Irken technology and general computer mechanics. The two had begun arguing once more, in a full debate of the best way to approach the problem, when the Robot suddenly stopped his singing, his head turning to the door, hopping off of Gaz, his eyes glowing red.

"INTRUDER!" He stated in a slightly deeper voice, a gun emerging from his head, pointing at the door. Dib stopped the discussion, distracted by the Robot's sudden proclamation, and quieting Zim who seemed oblivious to the Robot's actions.

"Gir! Put the gun away!" Zim ordered once his attention was drawn, however, Gir disregarded Zim and approached the door. Only moments later there was the sound of frantic knocking/pounding again wood as whoever was on the other side desperately attempted to draw their attention. The group momentarily stared at the door, then at one another; unable to come up with who could possibly be visiting them, and with no Computer to alert them of the intruder's identity.

The knocking grew more frantic and desperate- along with growing in volume, up to the point where they could no longer ignore it. Because of their silence, along with the knocking, they were able to distinguish a voice, which, like their tireless banging, grew in volume until it was very clear.

"ZIM! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! OPEN THE DOOR! ZIM!"

"That voice…" Dib muttered, an expression of shock crossing over him as the longer the stranger yelled, the more apparent the identity of them was.

"WHO DARE DISTIRB ZIM!" Zim yelled back angrily, to which the voice seemed to disregard, continuing to yell requests of entry. Zim walked over to the door, pressing it with a gloved hand curiously. However, nothing happened, causing Zim to growl angrily, muttering about the inefficiency of the Computer and the inconvenience it so unthoughtfully caused. Impatiently he wrenched open the door, dodging slightly to avoid the fist of the stranger, who was in the process of banging on the door once more.

Despite the warm weather and the clear skies, this person was endowed in a long dark cloak/coat of sorts, a hood pulled over their head- bulging at odd angles. Even in the waning sunlight the figure looked rather menacing, and its voice- though clearly female, sounded equally so as it addressed Zim.

"Finally…I've found you." She said, removing her hood, revealing herself to the party as her foot closed the door behind her. At her revelation, Gir had reverted back to turquoise/blue, and began screaming at the top of his lungs, mimicking an exaggerated version of the puzzled and startled onlookers, running around in circles, his arms flailing. They all stared at one another for a moment, sizing each other up; Dib being the first to speak, his voice barely audible in his disbelieving inquiry.

"Tak?"


	6. 6 Impostor

"HEY!" Zim exclaimed suddenly, pointing a finger at Tak, "You're Irken!"

Dib and Gaz briefly stared at Zim in disbelief, while Tak's antenna twitched a fraction of an inch-the only indication of her irritation. She needed to remain calm if she was going to receive any help.

"Zim? Don't you remember Tak?" Dib inquired doubtfully. Even after the surgery, his memory had never been his strong point. Zim continued to stare suspiciously at Tak, who stared back at him in disbelieving irritation.

"She took over the Delishus Weenie Corporation in order to drain the Earth of its' core and replace it with snacks?" Dib elaborated in futile attempt to jog Zim's memory, however, Zim still looked blank.

"Oh come on!" He cried in exasperation, "Her ship landed in my back yard! Remember? I downloaded my personality into it and it began to believe it was me! It terrorized the whole town! Come on!"

"Didn't they date at one point?" Gaz butted in quietly, causing Tak's antenna to twitch again; Zim too, flinched. Suddenly, a look dawned over him and he began to gape at her, pointing open mouthed at the Irken before him.

"YOU!"

The others sighed in relief, Tak in satisfaction.

"Yes Zim, it is I-"

"YOU MUST HAVE TOLD THAT FILTHY GELATANOUS FEMALE TO TERRORIZE ZIM!"

Dib sighed, scratching his head and turning to the kitchen to retrieve another soda, while Gaz turned back to the couch, plopping on it and turning her attention to the TV, grabbing the remote and turned up the volume, meanwhile Tak merely gaped at Zim incredulously.

"Zim, I'm-"

"THAT HORRIBLE SHE-MAN MALFORMED THE VERY ESSENCE OF _ZIM_- WITH HER B-B-Q SAUCE AND HER MEATS OF MALIFECENCE!"

"Zim, I'm-"

"CURSE THE DAY YOU BROUGHT HER-"  
"ZIM!" Tak screeched angrily, "I AM HER! I _AM_ TAK! NOW SHUT UP AND LISTEN!"

Zim paused, briefly startled by this female's sudden outburst. Then again, if he had learned anything from his time on Earth, he learned that no matter what planet, females are always the same. Suddenly, while examining her, he came to a sudden realization, gasping.

"LIES! GIR! ELIMINATE THIS IMPOSTOR!"

"YES MY MASTER!" Gir's voice could be heard from another room. Gir had previously left the room in the excitement and now returned from the direction of the kitchen, eyes red, and his speed faster than previously capable as far as Tak's assessments had diagnosed on her previous visit. He dived at Tak, his hand having transformed into a metal blade, raised and ready to strike. Tak gasped slightly, darting to the side to narrowly avoid the attack.

"ZIM! What are you talking about? I'm no impostor! Stop this!" she demanded, still attempting to avoid the robot, who unfortunately was too quick for her and within seconds had slammed into her head with full force, knocking her to the floor, unconscious. He stood on top of her, blade raised, ready to perform the finishing blow when Dib intervened.

"GIR! STOP!" he yelled, to which Gir froze immediately, blade still raised. Dib then turned to Zim, who was watching with cold eyes, his jaw set. "What the hell are you doing Zim! I mean, sure, Tak's never exactly been our friend but you can't just kill her!"  
"She is no Irken." Zim stated in a cold voice, unfitting for his character. Dib paused, having been about to speak, his attention now also fixated on the unconscious alien.

"What do you mean, of course she is!"  
Gaz, who had been attempting to ignore the whole situation with every fiber of her being, now found herself mildly compelled to show interest, lowering the volume again on the television and turning her head towards the intruder with mild curiosity.

"She is not." Zim retorted, matter-of-factly. " The Irken are dead."

"But- we _know_ her! We _know-"_

"You do not know anything!" Zim argued, turning to face Dib, his hands behind his back once more, a shrewd expression on his face. " This creature is no Irken."

"Wha-how do you know?" Dib inquired skeptically.

Zim turned back to the fallen impostor, a hand moving away from behind his back to briefly motion for Dib to come nearer, then returned to his original stance. Dib obliged, standing and walking over next to Zim, also staring down at the alien, while Gaz leaned over the arm chair, not bothering to stand.

"To begin with," Zim began. Gir had been sitting on his captured prize, happily returned to blue, humming, oblivious to the others. However, at Zim's words, he leaped up, red again, and stood beside Zim, pointing where Zim pointed to, the tip of his finger becoming a laser (pointer) which brushed over the alien's closed eyes. "This impostor's eyes are the color of purple, while Irkens are commonly the color of red."

"I'd call it pink if you asked me." Gaz chimed in, to which Zim ignored.

"It is a rare Irken that is found to be purple, to which I only know now after much research with my new eyes."

"But Tak was purple-"  
"Second," Zim continued, disregarding Dib's comment, "This impostor is an unrealistic height for an Irken. Irkens do not surpass the height of forty-eight inches- the maximum being forty-eight and six."

"Four inches? Seriously?" Dib muttered in disbelief, eyeing Zim, who was currently equal to him in height, if not slightly shorter. "But wait-what about your leaders? Weren't they like, what? Six feet?"

Zim's expression grew, if possible, more grim.

"The Tallests are the exception; born from superior genetics. There are only ever, at most, four Tallests alive at once."  
"So then she could still be a Tallest-"

"No." Zim responded knowingly, "The Tallests before My Tallests were killed in a horrible catastrophe, along with a couple hundred casualties. My Tallests were the only ones left…and they are left no longer."

"So, you think she isn't Irken 'cause she's too tall?" Gaz inquired, an eyebrow raised. Zim shook his head.

"If there were a possibility this creature was a Tallest, it is not in the correct attire to be such. This female is dressed like an Invader, not a Tallest." Zim shook his head once more. "It is an impossibility. The Irken Empire is dead." He finished quietly, turning away from the two and leaving the room without explanation, Gir converting back to blue once more and leaping onto the couch.

"Zim?" Dib asked as he left, however he didn't answer, taking one of the lifts back down to the lower levels. Dib glanced over at his sister, who in turn looked at him, then sighed, standing and walking over to survey the alien.

"You agree with me, don't you?" Dib asked, his voice hopeful. Gaz shrugged, apathetically.

"All that matters to me is that we have an unconscious alien chick lying in the middle of the living room and we need to figure out what we're going to do with her before she wakes up."

"Why do we have to do anything?" Dib defended, looking at the alien with pity. " She didn't give any indication that she wanted to hurt us- so why"

"Look, Dib, she's gonna wake up any second, and while you might be all for the whole "good Samaritan act" I'm gonna stick with the practical viewpoint that there's a fuckin alien in the living room and you and I both know how powerful Irken weapons can be-and how easy they can be to conceal. We can't say for sure that whatever this bitch is, she won't pull out some weird alien weapon and blast us to smithereens when she wakes up."

Dib paused for a moment, grimacing, his eyes drifting over who he believed was Tak. She looked so helpless…just lying there…and he found himself recollecting the past…he remembered Tak…despite her attempting to make Earth a giant offering to her leaders, she still seemed alright; in fact, he had had many conversations with her that he looked back at fondly. She wasn't like Zim- not Zim back then anyway. She was intelligent; an intelligence that Dib had hardly found in people his age back then- and hardly found even now. It was a shame that the first person he could ever connect to and relate to ended up being an alien bent on selling out Earth for the respect of her leaders.

Gaz sighed, exasperated and impatient while waiting for Dib to come to a decision. Without a word she stormed over to her backpack, which had been carelessly tossed into the corner of the room near the door, and began digging in it, after a few moments pulling out a long rope. She returned with rope in hand and knelt by the fallen alien.

"Why did you have rope in your backpack?" Dib muttered, confused.

"Go get me a chair." Gaz replied sharply, in a tone Dib never came to terms with disobeying. He darted to the kitchen quickly, returning with a chair before his brain even processed what it was she had asked of him. "Now help me get her up."  
"Wait, why?" Dib asked suddenly, watching as Gaz grabbed her from under the arms.

"Just help me Dib." She replied, exasperatedly. Dib obliged, helping her hoist the alien onto the chair. "Now hold her up so she doesn't fall off." Dib did so, again, thoughtlessly. He cursed himself mentally; he had thought he had broken Gaz's strong hold of him years ago, yet his obedience popped up at the most random times. He watched as Gaz began to tie the rope around the alien's wrists, which were wrapped behind the chair.

"Hey! Why're you tying her up!" He exclaimed in realization of her actions. Gaz took a moment to respond, doing so after pulling tight a particular knot.

"It's a precaution Dib. As stated previously, we don't know whether we can trust her or not, so why risk it?" That shut Dib up.

After a series of complicated knots Dib didn't want to fathom why Gaz knew how to tie, she moved down to the feet, which she tied to the chair legs; the whole strand of rope looping around the chair in a dizzying mesh of crisscrossing streaks.

"There." Gaz said, backing away and studying her work with a satisfied grimace. She nodded slightly, then turned away, back to the couch where she sat, her heavy combat boots propped up on the coffee table. She leaned over slightly, her hand going to her boot, and seconds later she removed a jagged knife from it, twirling it slightly in her hands.

A chill went down Dib's spine, not even wishing to inquire to her possession of the weapon. He struggled to find words, however, was luckily interrupted in thought by Gaz, who spoke, one hand on her knife, the other on the TV remote.

"You should go see what Zim's up to, don't worry, I've got things covered up here." She said, smirking as she glanced over at him. Another chill ran down his spine; she didn't have to ask twice; he was out of the room before she could blink.

Gaz turned her attention once more to the tied up alien. Her arm rested on the arm of the couch, the knife she moved side to side, gripping it loosely in her fingers. She found herself resting her head on her arm, her head leaning over slightly so that both the knife and the tied up stranger were in view, then closed one of her eyes, so that the TV was no longer in sight, and when the knife passed by the alien, it vanished from view. The alien's head was slumped over in a defeated sort of way, and if it weren't for the ropes that bound her torso to the chair she would have fallen long ago.

The knife passed by, glinting slightly in the brief second it covered the alien from view.

Then she was visible again, not having moved even a fraction.

Glint again, as the knife passed by, then swung out of sight, in front of her closed eye.

Glint, and it was back.

Gaz continued to stare, almost mesmerized by the procedure, her eyes cold and unblinking.

The knife glinted again…only this time, instead of an alien, a woman sat it the chair, her dark matted hair sticking to her sweaty, bleeding face in an unflattering fashion. She held the same exact position as the alien, and was tied in a very similar way. Gaz was aware that the knife in her hands was no longer clean, and in the corner of her eye she could see a hint of scarlet that trimmed the edge of the blade.

Glint.

The woman was gone without a trace, and the alien was before her once more.

Gaz blinked, both eyes opening after the action.

She sat up straighter, glancing at the knife curiously. It was still as clean as it had been when she had pulled it out, and the alien was certainly extraterrestrial.

She blinked again, yawning and turning back to the TV.

Within seconds, she had forgotten the moment entirely.


	7. 7 Uprising

Zim twisted the dial once more, rewinding the footage to replay the scene. His eyes were fixed on the large projection screen that made up the entire opposing wall. Specifically, his eyes traced over the girl in the scene, who was standing in Zim's doorway, her cat at her heels. She was laughing maniacally at Zim- a horrid laugh that Zim still had stuck in his head, after so many years, despite the fact that he could no longer place a face to it.

While laughing, the girl began to transform; the hologram that had been hiding her true image flickering and vanishing to reveal a violet Irken, their SIR unit beside them.

He paused the footage; then turned to a separate control panel which he began to operate; the screen splitting into two images- the paused image that he had been viewing, and a new image that of his front door once more, but this time the intruder stood before a much older, taller version of himself. He grimaced slightly; even he had to admit, there was a striking similarity between the two visitors, in spite of the height differences.

He turned to press another few keys on the control panel and cursed as a deep buzzer noise greeted his ears. He repeated the process again, only to come to the same result. By the time Dib had approached him he was angrily pounding on the keyboard, the buzzing reverberating off the walls.

"Why are you trying to sabotage the only remaining functional portions of the Computer?" Dib commented irritably, walking up beside him, glancing at the screen. "So it _is_ her then." He commented, half in wonder, half cockily. Zim stopped in exasperation at Dib's comment, also looking up at the screen.

"We cannot be certain, having only an image to assess."

"Well we don't have anything else." Dib commented impatiently.

"If the Computer was fully functional I could compare both audio files to see if they match…"

Dib glanced over at Zim in surprise, almost impressed with his idea. However, instead of giving him the satisfaction of saying so, he instead commented.

"Oh, so that's what you were doing- well clearly your method in repairing it isn't working, I bet if we grabbed a bat-"

"WE HAVE NO TIME FOR YOUR FLYING RODENTS DIB! THIS IS A CONFLICT OF SERIOUS PROPORTION AS THIS PUTRID MONSTROCITY HAS INFILTRATED OUR BASE!"

"Isn't that a little hypocritical to call her that? After all, she looks Irken to me; besides, she's unconscious."

"DO NOT BE DECIEVED! IT WILL-"  
"Have you ever considered that maybe she _is_ who she says she is? If so, wouldn't you be interested in what she has to say? Wouldn't you be at all curious as to why she's here? Especially since the Irken race was supposedly completely eliminated apart from you." Dib pointed out, leaning against one of the inactive control panels, his arms folded. Zim paused, his mouth open, about to retort. He closed it awkwardly, then turned back to the screen, staring at the two images with a whole new perspective. He hadn't wanted to even consider the idea that it was truly her. Who she was didn't matter in the slightest to him, however, the existence of another Irken was very significant. And after living so many years with the knowledge of their annihilation- having spent years mourning the loss of his species- he didn't want to so readily accept that that statement was false. After all, it had been so hard to handle the first time…

After awhile Zim finally spoke, his voice cracked under the strain of preventing himself from portraying any emotion in his tone.

"Fine." He murmured, standing and turning to face Dib with a brief nod. "We will see what it is It wants. Then we will determine what actions we will take." Dib nodded in agreement, straightening and following after Zim as he tromped out of the lower base, his pace slightly quicker than usual.

"WAKE UP!" Zim exclaimed. Tak was jolted awake by a sharp pain on her cheek.

"Zim! Was hitting her really necessary?" Dib asked exasperatedly.

"Ha, ignorant fool," Zim replied, " this creature is fortunate I do not possess Irken made torture devices!"

"Wait- I thought you said those were made by the Vortians-" Dib butted in.

"SILENCE!" Zim exclaimed angrily.

Tak opened her eyes blearily, her cheek aching, along with her head. It had been awhile since she had heard the high octaves of her own species. Once her vision had adjusted she was able to make out two figures standing over her; and came to the conclusion of their identifications almost immediately. After another moment she was able to also come to the realization that she had been tied up in her unconscious state-how she came to be that way she could hardly recall, however, at the moment she was more irritated than anything else about her predicament and was already regretting seeking them out.

"What have you done to me?" She barked almost immediately once she was able to retrieve her voice. The two ceased their bickering at her words and turned to look down at her with identical expressions that she couldn't read.

"It's a precaution." Gaz said, walking up to stand beside Dib and Zim, her arms folded, her eyes meeting Tak's shrewdly. "After all, if we are to assume you are who you claim to be; then you're fully aware that we didn't exactly part of good terms. It stands to reason, therefore, that we have every right to be suspicious of your sudden appearance."

Tak grimaced; immediately despising Gaz for her intelligence- if it had only been Zim and Dib they probably wouldn't have gone so far as to tie her up- though if it had been just Zim, she would have been dead; she didn't blame his reaction, she would have done the same if it were the other way around. Then again, she had never expected Zim to be capable of such logical thoughts. She had little time to consider this though, as Zim interrupted her thoughts.

"EXPLAIN YOURSELF EXTRATERRESTRIAL ABOMONATION!"

"Again, the irony of _you_ saying that Zim." Dib commented mildly, the confronted Tak. " As my sister and…Zim, have both put so articulately; we were hoping you could explain to us why you've come here Tak?" he inquired as pleasantly as he could under the circumstances. Tak glowered at all of them, cursing herself quietly. How could she have been so foolish as to believe they would actually help her? Their competence was enough to question her reasoning, but…

"I had no choice." She began, forcing out the words with much difficulty. She glowered as they remained silent, clearly expecting her to elaborate. She sighed, knowing, if anything, that it was the only way they would voluntarily release her from her restraints. "I need your help." She finally said with clenched teeth. That was definitely the last thing they expected; even Gaz's eyebrows raised a fraction of an inch in surprise.

"What?" Dib muttered automatically, before thinking of a more intelligent response.

"I need your help." Tak repeated, much more firmly.

"Why?" Gaz replied, her voice skeptical. Tak's eyes narrowed as she glared briefly at Gaz, disliking her more every second. She closed her eyes for a moment, not believing what she was about to relay. She opened her eyes slowly, staring at each of them in turn; her gaze darting over Gaz, shifting uneasily to Zim, then landing on Dib, whose eye contact she kept as she spoke.

"As you know, what I believe is eight years ago in your time, the Irken Empire was overthrown by the growing resistance known as the Resisty."

"The Resisty?" Gaz snickered, "that's a stupid name." Tak ignored her and continued.

"While there was tale of the Resisty having formed their alliance some time before the incident; it was believed that they had been defeated during The Great Crash- a horrific incident in Irken history where have of the Irken Armada was lead to their downfall when following after the Massive, which had been Pirated from some unknown source and driven into the Earth's Sun."

Zim shifted nervously, turning his attention to the opposing wall, Dib glancing over at him curiously.

"However, shortly after-what would have been approximately nine years in our time and one year in yours, they reappeared; this time with an army of their own, which was made up of a large majority of the enslaved, overthrown and dominated opposing species- lead by their ruthless Vortian Captain, Lard Nar."

There was some more snickering from Gaz, but otherwise no other interruptions.

"A large galactic battle ensued, however, even the all mighty Irken Empire was no match to the ever-growing Resisty and it wasn't long before Lard Nar personally…eliminated Our All Mighty Tallests." Her voice had died down slightly at the end, and Zim flinched very slightly at the mention of The Tallest's demise. Tak cleared her throat quickly and continued, "throughout the next few years, the Resisty spent their time locating all existing Irken-a task found to be much easier thanks to the Massive's advanced Computer System which had organized and catalogued each and every individual Irken, giving full information on them along with their present location. With that information they hunted down every single last one and…disposed of them." Again she had grown slightly quiet, her gaze having left Dib to look at the floor. "there were only two Irkens that the Resisty were unable to locate. At the time I was unaware of this and believed myself to be the last one."  
"Why couldn't they locate you?" Dib asked quietly, his tone that you would use when addressing someone on their deathbed. Tak looked back at him, her expression unreadable to him due to their difference in species, however, as soon as she spoke he immediately identified the expression as reproach.

"After you three ruined my mission on Earth, I found myself narrowly escaping death by compression in my own ship by fleeing in my escape pod."

_That explains why her ship landed in my yard…_ Dib mused, almost speaking the thought out loud- a habit of his that he had spent years trying to break.

"Unfortunately, being a small ship, the escape pod was extremely basic and lacked any real navigational equipment. So I ended up being propelled aimlessly into space where, for the longest time, I believed I would die. In fact, if it weren't for the planet's gravitational pull, I likely would have.

"Where did you end up?" Dib inquired before he could stop himself. Luckily, Tak seemed unbothered by his questions.

"On some random planet in this Solar System- very small- I'm not certain You People have even discovered it yet; or if you have, you've claimed it a "Moon" and been done with it." She glanced at Gaz while speaking, however, finding herself unable to meet Gaz's eyes, which stared at her fixedly, daring her to make eye contact. "So, naturally I don't believe it has an official name to Humans and those few who dwelled there all had different titles for it- all of which are unintelligible in the Human Common Tongue."

"So you've been there then?" Dib persisted, fascinated. He knew by now that there were other planets and creatures out there; yet it still excited him every time he listened to a new story involving the Alien races.

"Yes," Tak replied bitterly, "miserable shit-hole as You People would say. Almost entirely devoid of life; which isn't surprising due to its conditions- freezing beyond belief- but with odd spontaneous, undetectable…geysers I think they're called, shooting hundreds of feet up in the air, full of boiling hot tar-like substance that I've seen kill on contact. It was fortunate that the local's diet consisted of a similar diet the Irken ingest- along with a bunch of other cultures…I was even more fortunate that I could leave there."

Dib was practically leaning forward, his expression reminiscent of a child on Christmas morning, seeing all the brand new presents poking out from under the Christmas tree. "How did you get off if you only had an escape pod?" he asked eagerly; from slightly behind him Gaz smirked, glancing at her brother for a brief moment, an exchange that no one apart from Tak seemed to have witnessed. Tak couldn't help but grin slightly at his question, as she was incredibly proud of her accomplishment and in spite of her present situation, she found herself bragging of her daring exploit.

"As I later discovered after living there awhile; that horrible planet, despite its size, has the most powerful gravitational pull in the Solar System- which unfortunately plagues it with rather violent meteor showers every once in awhile- the pull was responsible for capturing the occasional travelers who came into the proximity; all of them lost for one reason or another, believing themselves to have truly reached the end of the universe. So naturally, the planet, along with being laden with a large amount of gravity-defying rock structures, lost satellites and other electronic devices I can only assume were created by Humans but destroyed by the dramatic temperatures- but the planet is also covered with vast quantities of crashed ships of varying design and quality… it took me years, but I was finally able to construct a fully functioning ship with the materials I salvaged from all the crashed ships-or a rather large majority of them. During that time I was also able to speculate a plan. I had learned from the others there, compiling their stories as I had their ships, and eventually came away with complete knowledge of the Resisty and their actions towards the Irken Empire. I had originally planned to construct a ship to fly back towards the All Mighty Tallests in order to assist our race in fighting off the Resisty…I didn't learn until later that the Empire had fallen…" Tak shifted slightly in her chair, as best as she could with the restrains. The ropes had been tied mercilessly, and they were starting to pinch against her skin. They were all quiet now, listening intently, even Dib, who's every thought now was a new question, stifled his inquiries for fear of her stopping her story. "I had just repaired the ships' Transmitter, during which I accidentally seemed to have pressed a call button- as the telecommunication screen turned on and I found myself staring face-to-face with Lard Nar himself." There was full hatred seething through Tak's voice as she revealed this, her every word acidic. "His first words surprised me: "not another one"- but later I was able to divulge that he had spoken to another communicator that he had assumed had been disabled- and even theorized that it was another Irken."

Zim nodded silently, confirming Tak's suspicions. It was the first acknowledgement of comprehension he had made during the entire conversation; keeping to himself and listening intently. Tak made fleeting eye contact with him, but both averted their eyes swiftly.

"in the conversation, which was short and direct- he informed me not only of the fall of the Irken Empire, but of his elimination of the Irken species…I naturally confronted him, swearing vengeance, to which he merely laughed, informing me how unconcerned he was, knowing that, "like the other one" I was too far out of range to even locate, and as there were only two incompetent, failed Invaders, that I posed little threat and he hoped I enjoyed myself on whatever "filthy rock" I had landed on. He left me with the warning that I would be killed on sight if I were ever "foolish" enough to return to the "Resisty's Territory"." She finished bitterly, looking at each of them in turn. "Imagine my surprise when I learned that of all the millions of Irkens out there that could have survived, it was you, Zim, who had evaded the Resisty, simply because this Solar System is so far away, devoid of enough intelligent life to be seen as anything more than parasite infested. I assume it was the same reason that, despite the fact they could communicate with me using the transmitter, they could not locate me one my transmitter was turned off…" Tak looked at the others expectantly, waiting for them to speak. However, they seemed to be looking at her with the same expectations, to which she only inquired with a frown. Finally, it was Gaz who spoke, a suspicious and skeptical frown still in place.

"Well that was a wonderful story, but you seemed to have left out the explanation of why the hell you came here?"

Tak scowled at her comment, wishing for nothing more than to be free from her bindings so she could tackle the smug human female to the ground. Gaz smirked, as if understanding Tak's desire, pleased that she had tied those knots so well.

"At first I had no real destination apart from wishing to escape from that planet. As I could no longer return to the late Irken Empire, I decided to seek out any other close planets that were not completely devoid of life. It wasn't long at all before I once again came across Earth, and almost immediately I knew who it was that Lard Nar must have been speaking of."

"What is it exactly that you want Tak?" Dib asked uneasily, anticipating the worst.

"Revenge." Zim murmured knowingly, causing the others to look at him in surprise. His arms were folded and his jaw was set in a straight line. He had seen it coming from the beginning- after all, it had been on his mind for eight years now, and had been the driving force that had kept him going all those years. Tak nodded, meeting his gaze once more, her expression as grim as his.

"I want an uprising." She said seriously, "and I need your help."


	8. 8 K13

"An uprising?" Dib repeated with mild surprise; it wasn't the statement that surprised him- he expected as much from an Irken- but the fact that Tak had sought them out specifically to assist her. He voiced this much out loud. Gaz smirked once more, shaking her head.

"Don't flatter yourself Dib, she had no choice. It was either us or the inhabitants of her previous residence, and I'm sure she already asked them." Gaz commented, glancing over at Tak with a patronizing expression, to which Tak reciprocated with a glare of her own. Dib was silenced momentarily by her comment, during which Zim was continually examining her crucially. Tak's attention was caught by his obvious interest and her eyes averted from Gaz's to meet Zim's with a small grin.

"You don't trust me, do you?" she asked knowingly. Zim made a sound of disgust, shaking his head slightly.

"You are no Irken." He stated quietly. Tak's eyebrows rose in surprise; that was not at all what she had been expecting. He had collapsed her guard with a single sentence, the spark that had been in her eyes despite her situation and the pride that had emitted from her previously, allowing her to keep her cool, calm, superior demeanor despite her demeaning position, tied to a chair, had vanished instantly. All that was left was a gaping female alien at a loss for words, uncertain what to make of the statement.

Dib sighed exasperatedly.

"Oh come on, not that again! I thought we agreed she was telling the truth!"

"No Dib." Zim growled harshly, still eying Tak, "we agreed upon nothing; I merely decided to consider the possibility."  
"What, and you don't now?" Dib scoffed.

"How dare you…" Tak hissed, "I'm more of an Irken than you'll ever be- look at you! You're a traitor to our species- wearing that human skin…"

Zim exclaimed wordlessly, lunging at Tak. Dib quickly caught him by the arm, pulling him back with as much force as he could muster, which flung Zim staggering backwards, still glaring angrily.

"Get a hold of yourself Zim! She's tied to a chair!"

Tak smirked very slightly at this, though her expression fell in surprise when she caught Dib's eyes. He was staring at her with such repulsed reproach that she found herself even more so at a loss of words than she had before.

"You should know better than anyone that he had no choice." Dib replied coldly. Tak averted her eyes, her head tilting down to look at her lap.

"If you are Irken, why is it that you do not possess a SIR Unit?" Zim interjected suddenly, re-approaching the other three. He had removed his contacts and wig and while he still wore human attire, his species was now very clearly visible; his antennas twitching slightly, free from their constraints; simultaneously blinking his eyes to get readjusted to vision without the contacts-which he had grown very accustom to. Tak still refused to make eye contact, but darted a glance at his sudden change in appearance, her violet eyes momentarily meeting his ruby, but then darting back downward.

"MiMi possessed components necessary to power the ship-"

"You used your own robot?" Dib asked incredulously.

"It was a robot, not a…dog" Tak snapped back, her head suddenly darting around the room wearily, the reminder of that creature lurking making her uneasy; it clearly had had a few tune-ups since the last time she'd seen it.

Zim still frowned suspiciously, unconvinced.

"You are also not of Irken height." Zim commented crudely. Tak glowered.  
"Neither are you!"

Zim paused, his antennae falling slightly, at a loss for a response.

"Yes, but he didn't get that way naturally." Gaz pointed out with a small smirk. Zim's antennae twitched again.

"I see…" Tak said, noting for the first time, also, the absence of his pack. "Another ploy to align yourself with the humans?" Tak was interrupted by a very sudden sharp blow to the side of the face, knocking her unconscious once more. Zim and Dib's heads snapped up to look startlingly at Gaz, who was holding her fist in front of her, still glaring at the unconscious Tak.

"Gaz?" Dib asked in quiet shock.

"She was pissing me off." She replied lightly, turning away and walking over to the corner of the room, grabbing her backpack and slinging it over her shoulder, then walked over to the kitchen, picking up her painting from the table and holding it out in front of her for a moment, staring at it. After awhile she walked back into the other room, momentarily leaning the painting against the edge of the couch as she turned back to the others. "So," she asked, folding her arms in front of her and leaning back so she was half sitting on the arm of the couch. "What're you going to do with her?"

While Dib turned to look back at Tak, Zim's attention was caught by the unusual painting facing him. The visual sent a chill down his spine as he observed what he could only describe as a mass of tentacles, emitting from some sort of beast that was partially obstructed from view by amethyst colored shadows.

"I…don't know…" Dib said slowly, "I want to believe her…"

"And if you did? Then what would you do?" Gaz asked skeptically, "Go fly off to space to fight aliens?"

Though the comment was clearly sarcastic, Gaz quickly identified the look on Dib's face- contorting his expression to one of hope and longing- his eyes glazing over, already in his own world.

"Dib." Gaz said, attempting to awaken her brother from his day dreaming, but unsuccessfully. She shook her head, sighing irritably and hopped off the couch arm and grabbing her painting. Her eyes swept over the others: Dib in his own fantasy world, Tak unconscious, and Zim as unresponsive as Dib. She frowned slightly, sighing once more, knowing that she likely wouldn't get another intelligent word out of them for some time.

With that conclusion she turned and walked to the front door, pausing only briefly as she opened it to glance over her shoulder at them.

"You can keep the rope." She said then exited, closing the door rather harshly behind her, as was her habit.

The sound of the door slamming shut wrenched Zim and Dib out of their individual trances. Zim blinked a few times, his antennae twitching. Dib shook his head slightly, readjusting his glasses and glancing around a bit confused. After comprehending Gaz's sudden departure he focused his attention once more on Tak, who would likely rise again very shortly. As if Zim had been reading his thoughts he suddenly jumped into action, walking over to Tak and checking her restraints, then turned his head towards the general vicinity and called "GIR!"

Almost immediately there could be heard clanking from some other room as the robot hurried into the living room, halting once he reached Zim, looking up at him with a curious smile, his eyes still teal.

"Inject the intruder with formula K13, we don't want her waking up any time soon."

"YES M'LORD!" Gir said, saluting Zim, his eyes turning red, then happily back to blue as he approached Tak and grabbing her lower arm just above where her glove stopped.

There was a sudden sound as a needle shot out of Gir's own arm and penetrated Tak's skin, a clear liquid flowing through the needle and into her veins. Gir hummed as he worked, the needle retracting when the injection was complete, after which he placed his hand on the puncture mark. He removed his hand to reveal a newly placed bright blue band-aid with yellow ducks on it, and made a sound of approval, nodding then turning around to look at Zim happily.

"Very good Gir." Zim praised, a method which Dib pointed out, caused Gir to be a much more pleasant and competent robot then when Zim disregarded him. "Now take this creature up to an empty room on the top floor- one with no windows- and make sure she does not leave the room- that is an order Gir!"

Gir's eyes flashed red.

"Yes Sir!" he said then turned and lifted the chair and Tak up by the two front chair legs seemingly effortlessly. The two watched as he boarded Tak and the chair onto the lift (hidden behind what appeared to be a regular door like any other) closing the door and thus activating the lift.

"What do you plan to do with her?" Dib inquired, turning back to Zim, who was still looking at the closed door.

"We are going to have her show us where her ship is located." He stated, turning to walk into the kitchen where the second lift was located, leading down to the lower levels. Dib followed behind him.

"You intend to bring it back here?" He asked doubtfully. Zim nodded.

"Though originally salvaged parts, the ship was functional enough to transport her here-"

"So you think they might work as the pieces we're missing?" Dib finished eagerly. Zim nodded again.

"Even if they are not Irken, they are preferred over Earth-made. Human technology just hasn't caught up with all the others yet- I assume because of its isolation…" he commented thoughtfully, pressing a button on the lift to the appropriate floor. The lift hummed slightly as it began to move downward and it was only moments later that it opened out to the base floor laboratory. The room was the largest in the house, spanning from beneath the edge of the front lawn all the way to the factory building behind them and the two houses that wedged on either side of theirs'. It was loaded with all the most advanced Irken technology that had ever been available to Zim- and some that hadn't been that he had received from special request from his imprisoned Vortian ex-ally or from his chance encounter long ago with the Plookesians, who had generously given him a large donation of weaponry.

In the very center of the room sat a collection of ships- two Irken made and one a prototype that the two had been working on for years with components and materials they'd been able to get their hands on through the College and other such places; in fact, that's where they received most of their materials these days- the science building was particularly abundant with spare parts that seemed to hold little interest to others.

Out of habit Dib approached the ships, patting each one in turn while admiring them longingly. He stopped at the prototype. It was less of a ship and more of a shapeless block of metal. The outer coating was mainly made up of old cars and other such vehicles salvaged from the city dump- another location where they received a large majority of their materials. It was a relatively new project that they had been working on for merely two years, on and off. Eventually they were hoping to combine the two Irken ships, fused with the prototype as their "putty" in the center; creating one, much larger ship. Unfortunately, neither of them were too particularly talented in the mechanic and construction field, so the project was never finished.

Zim, however, walked directly to the opposite end of the room, where a large number of wires protruded from the ceiling and walls; twisting together in tangled knots. He knelt down beside them, examining them curiously. However, apart from a few minor adjustments he seemed to find nothing wrong with the cords and returned over to where Dib was, who had thoughtlessly climbed into Tak's ship and was simply staring at its interior longingly. It had been years since he had actually flown in one of those ships- not since the Christmas fiasco, and Gaz had taken the controls so he had never had an opportunity, but still…the experience was like nothing he had ever witnessed thereafter. Driving just didn't cut it…

When Zim approached him he was running his fingers over the inactive control panel, his eyes tracing over every button, though he knew very few of their functions, and Zim had never been willing to teach him, seeing no reason why Dib should know more than what was necessary to assist him on construction and mechanics with the two ships.

Zim frowned slightly at finding Dib, though his actions were predictable. It was a favored spot of Dib's and it wasn't infrequent that Zim came across Dib, sitting in Tak's ship in a complete daze, his eyes glazed over in fantasies of space travel. While before Zim used to reprimand Dib about doing so, he tired of the repetitiveness and eventually accepted it. So, instead of commenting at all, he pressed on, addressing Dib seriously.

"The intruder known presently as "Tak" will be waking soon- I need you to investigate her further."

Dib looked up curiously for two reasons; first, the fact that Zim was making a request, an occurrence that was very out of character for him- showing that his mind was clearly on other things. Second, was the request itself.

"Haven't we interrogated her enough? What more could you possibly want to know?" Dib asked incredulously, turning his head to look at Zim.

"Our primary objective is to learn of the whereabouts of her ship. However, it would also be very beneficial to learn how it was she was able to track us down. It shows a leak in our security system of which we must take immediate action to correcting."

"Why can't you ask her?" Dib asked, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"I am going to be repairing the Computer."

At this Dib grimaced.

"_I_ was going to be repairing the computer! _You_ interrogate her Zim! _You're _the one who wants the parts!"

"That is a falsehood Dib as we are both aware of your desire for the parts as well- your present actions provide such evidence."

Dib frowned, he had got him there.

"Why do you want _me_ to?" Dib repeated curiously. Zim paused, contemplating the formation of his sentence prior to speaking it aloud.

"You seem to have a good rapport with her, I believe she will be far more responsive if interrogated by you."

Dib, again, found himself incapable of arguing. He knew that he'd much rather talk to Tak then have her faced off with Zim.

"Fine." Dib replied, nodding. Zim stepped aside as Dib emerged from the ship, glancing back at it momentarily, then turning to Zim. "How much longer until she's conscious? I thought formula K13 would have her out for awhile."

"I was not specific on the amount of dosage that I commanded Gir to inject in her-"

"Oh, so she could wake up any minute." Dib finished knowingly. Zim nodded. "And Gir probably forgot about guarding her." Zim nodded again. Dib cursed under his breath. "Sometimes I wonder why we keep him around." He muttered with a sigh. The two glanced at each other- they knew without vocal explanation why and both simultaneously shuddered.


	9. 9 Final Explanations

"How many more times do you plan to do that to me?" Tak asked as Dib entered the room to find her still bound to the chair against a wall while Gir sat in the opposite corner, rocking back and forth and singing to himself a tune that sounded very similar to "it's a small world".

"ah…I'm sorry about Gaz- she's…well she's just like that sometimes…" Dib finished lamely, scratching the back of his head and glancing at her sheepishly.

"I'm starting to believe she doesn't like me." Tak commented, causing Dib to laugh very slightly as he approached her; kneeling down on the floor and beginning to work on the rope, untying her bindings. The progress however was incredibly slow- Gaz had done her job well- but at least he didn't have to meet her cold stare that overwhelmed him with guilt. Just recollecting her unconscious body was enough to get him to apologize.

"Listen- I'm really sorry about this whole thing Tak, Zim and Gaz are just…not exactly people people…."

"Tak?" Tak repeated curiously, a hint of amusement in her voice. "So you believe me then?"

This caused Dib to pause momentarily in his work to glance up at her, only to look back down again quickly.

"Of course I do- I never doubted it. Zim…his memory hasn't been so good since the surgery, but I knew who you were the moment I saw you." He stammered nervously. Dib found himself beating himself up mentally- he wasn't exactly a people person either…or alien person for that matter. Tak smirked, however her expression changed as she processed his sentence.

"You keep mentioning this surgery…what happened?"

Dib went back to his work, which bought him a second or two, fiddling with a particular knot, deciding what exactly to tell Tak. While he had no doubts to her identity, it didn't make her any more trustworthy- after all, he hadn't forgotten her original plan to sacrifice Earth for the sake of her leaders. However, he needed her to trust him- to convey information to him; and he knew that concealing information from her wasn't the best way to achieve that objective. Dozens of stories immediately flew through his mind as he thought, each more ridiculous and more farfetched than the last. Eventually he gave up, partly out of frustration from being unable to untie the stubborn knot and partly because he knew that the simplest response would be the truth. So he shifted positions to have a hack at another knot and began a bit wearily; by now he even had Gir's attention, who had ceased singing to stare at him as expectantly as Tak was.

"Zim…had an accident…" Dib began slowly, forming millions of sentences in his head before finally compiling one he found a decent balance of vague truth. "His…uh… "Pak" was…damaged…and his life was at risk. I…found him and well…I took him back to my father- he's a scientist…a really good one- he was able to perform an emergency surgery on him to keep him alive."

"Without his Pak?" Tak asked, startled.

"Uh…yeah." Dib nodded, at a bit of a loss for words.

"How?"

Dib shrugged. To this day, he hardly knew what his father had done. Naturally his explanations were never very straight forward, and at the time Dib had had other things on his mind to distract him from those trivial questions- such as the screaming alien in his living room. To his surprise, Tak seemed to accept this as an answer, moving on to an even more difficult question.

"Why did you help him? I believed my assessment was rather accurate that you two despised each other."

"Yeah…well…uh…we do, but uh…" Dib attempted to come up with a coherent response, his vocabulary- and majority of verbal skills, failing him. "Look- he was on the floor, _dying_! I couldn't just let that happen!"

"Why not?" Tak replied. It felt like a blow to the face to Dib, who was momentarily speechless with surprise.

"What do you mean? He was dying…"

"Precisely." Tak replied, seemingly lost at the implications in his tone, she merely stared at him as though the solution was obvious. "He was your enemy, his demise would have been beneficial to you- despite his incompetence as an Invader." She added as an afterthought.

"Are all aliens this harsh or is it just the Irkens?" Dib commented mildly. Tak smirked.  
"What you humans define as "Courageous" other species more rightfully dub "foolish". It is why the human race has never been seen as a threat to those who have known of its existence- in fact, the brain activity is so low compared to the advancement of other races that it comes off the scanner as deserted…or on the really good scanners, "infested with parasites."" Tak laughed slightly at her comment, which seemed to have touched a spot with Dib, who was scowling slightly. "He seems perfectly fine now…" Tak added thoughtfully. Dib raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah? I guess so- I mean the surgery went well-"

"So what is your excuse now then?"

"What do you mean?"

Tak smirked.

"Zim is clearly not dying- so why are you still here? Shouldn't you be stopping him from blowing stuff up…or something?"

"Oh." Dib muttered in reply, then cursed under his breath and turned to Gir, who had become preoccupied with his rear end- spinning in circles much like a dog chasing his tail- except for the fact that Gir, out of his dog suit as he was presently, possessed no tail to speak of. "Hey! Could you stop that and help me out over here?" He snapped exasperatedly, to which Gir seemed unfazed- he didn't even seem to hear him. He tried again a few times, with no avail.

"Well that contradicts my previous theory that his competence has improved…" Tak commented lightly. Dib sighed, shaking his head.  
"No, it's Gaz he listens to, not me…and sometimes Zim- it's rare he ever listens to me, and I'm the nice one!" he glared at the robot for a minute before turning back to Tak, who looked at him curiously, he scowled again and continued. " Zim and I…well- it's been awhile since we've fought- well, okay, we fight a lot- but not like back then…he's different…he's…"

"You consider him a friend then?"

"No!" Dib replied automatically, then paused, "…I don't really know…it's more like…"

"Tolerating each other's existence for personal gain?"

"Well, not personal gain…well actually yeah…"Dib admitted. Tak nodded.

"It is the Irken way of thinking- it is odd…all races are selfish creatures- however, it seems humans are one of the few species that do not accept that fact. Instead you lie to yourselves behind concepts of "selflessness" and "Integrity".

"Heh, you talk about morals as though they're religions." Dib commented with mild amusement. Tak frowned, tilting her head to the side slightly and furrowing her brow.

"What is 'religions'?"

"Never mind… not the point- the point is, that I'm supposed to be interrogating you right now- not the other way around." He said, standing in an attempt to mimic the intimidating role he felt he should be playing. Tak scoffed irritably.

"What more could you possibly want to know?"

"We need to know where your ship is."

"Why would I know that? I told you I was forced to abandon it after Zim nearly crushed me-"

"No- not that one- I have that one-"

"You what?"

"Not the point! Your ship- the one you flew in to get here! Where is it?" Dib demanded impatiently.

"Why do would you want that load of rubbish?" (If you notice from the episodes, Tak has a British accent lol)

"We need some parts from it."  
"Why?"  
"To fix our ship- are you going to tell me or not? 'cause if you're not-"

"I landed it in the city dumpster."

Dib froze, a bit taken-aback.

"Wow…that was surprisingly easy…uh, why would you put it there?"

"it fit right in with all the other heaps of metal." Tak said with a shrug. "Anything else you wanted to know?"

"Uh…" Dib muttered, at a loss for words. "Um…no- not really…"however a thought occurred to him as he spoke and interjected itself before he had completely formed a sentence. "You found us!"

It was Tak's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Yes, I did. Didn't make it exactly easy, did you? It is fortunate I found your sister…"

"What?" Dib asked, accusatorily, to which Tak brushed off with a wave of her hand, a very human mannerism.  
"It wasn't too difficult to locate your original residence, having the knowledge of Zim's prior location. In fact, you were conveniently located only a few streets away. A fact I learned shortly after. To my luck, I found the resident of your previous home establishment to be very helpful."

"Yeah...Dad's like that."

"Ah. I should have concluded that to be the case- you bear a striking resemblance.- your sister, on the other hand, I assume must have inherited her appearance from your maternal unit?"

"Uh…can't really say- didn't really have a mom."

"Oh, your father is asexual?"

"What!" Dib exclaimed with a choking noise.

"You and your sister were produced through agamogenesis? Asexual reproductional means?" Tak elaborated, to which Dib responded with a series of hand gestures, head shakes and uncategorizable sounds before bursting into laughter.

"No, no, no- I know what it means-no, no, uh…that doesn't- humans don't do that-uh, what I should have said was "Gaz and I never knew our mom"-" Dib responded awkwardly, "Dad doesn't ever talk about her and we hardly ever get straight answers out of him to begin with- so I stopped trying…though I'm pretty sure she died…"Dib added as a melancholy afterthought, clearing his throat. "It's funny-I keep forgetting you're a different species. I should be used to it by now- with Zim- but yeah…anyway- uh- back to the original subject- Zim moved location after we left that Skool- High Skool that is- by that time we had been working together on a few projects- we had still been rivals prior- still are-but not the same. After the hundredth or so project, we realized that we actually work well together- and that- as you put it, our teamwork would be "beneficial" to both of us. We had similar goals- and both ended up attending the same City College." Dib laughed slightly, "I still find the concept amusing, and am still in disbelief how things turned out- but here we are now- out of convenience of course- but…it isn't so bad. I've been here for almost two years now- it was strange at first- but…" Dib ended quietly, a bit lost in his own thoughts. He shook his head, remembering the present situation and grinning slightly. Tak seemed to be observing him now with all new interest, making Dib feel self-conscious. _Gir_ could have done a more successful interrogation. But at least he had retrieved the information he had wanted…though she in turn had practically gotten his whole life story on a platter… He began to back away, feeling the need to leave the room as quickly as possible for fear of releasing any more information.

"You are leaving?" Tak observed at once, causing Dib to stop short.

"Uh…yeah- not that it hasn't been fun- but I've gotta go." Dib explained lamely.

"What are you going to do with me?" Tak wasn't one to beat around the bush.

"Uh…we haven't exactly…decided yet. Zim wants to run a voice analysis, then we'll figure it out."  
"Ah. So he _is_ Irken after all. I suppose I should thank you- I was foolish to come here so unprepared- If it were just Zim I would likely have been killed by now."

"ehh…" Dib replied, no arguing with her there. "Okay then- yeah- uh, Gir-"

Gir looked up curiously from the bed, which he had been rolling around on happily.

"If you could please untie Tak, that would be great."

"Okie Dokie!" Gir said, hopping off the bed and grabbing the back of the chair with his two small metal hands and pulled back on it with tremendous force, snapping the chair back in half and for a moment, causing Tak to lean back in the process. However, he removed the back, the ropes sliding off it and slumping loosely to the floor- Tak graciously slipping out of them with a sigh, and standing (after a few attempts due to the weak state of her legs and the after affects of the formula).

"Thank you Gir." Dib responded, though Gir disregarded him, seeming far more interested in the loose ropes now on the floor.

"Your gratitude seems to be wasted on him." Tak mused. Dib ignored this comment, directly addressing Gir, who looked up again as his named was called.

"I need you to watch Tak while I'm gone." He said in a slow tone, enunciating each word in hopes that it would compute better with the robot if that were the case. "Do _not_ let her leave this room and _use force_ if you have to- but _do not _kill her, okay?"

Gir's eyes flashed red for a moment, but he didn't respond apart from that.

"Good…I guess." Dib commented with a nod, then turned back to Tak, who looked horrified- the most expression she had possessed in her face the entire time he had known her.

"You're going to leave me in here…with _that thing_?"

Dib nodded regretfully.

"Incompetent or not, he'll keep you company." Dib said with a shrug, "and he's not so bad at that- unless you attack him, then he might kill you- bye!" he finished and quickly darted through the door, closing and locking it behind him.

He sighed heavily, his hand going to his head.

"That could've gone better." He said before turning and leaving down the hall and towards the lifts. If they wanted to retrieve Tak's ship they'd better soon, before it was crushed into a cube like all the other heaps of metal there.


	10. 10 Salvaged

The front door burst open, Zim and Dib staggering through; identical looks of disgust adorning their faces. Gaz looked up from the T.V., amused by the display as Dib removed a rotted banana peel from his head; flicking it across the room with revulsion. Zim shuddered slightly, removing his wig, which was coated in a thick mass of an unidentifiable sticky tar-like substance; also flinging it as far away from him as possible.

"That _thing _was _so_ not worth the time it took to dig it up." Dib commented bitterly, his eyes falling on Gaz, who he only seemed to notice just then. "How'd you get in here? You don't have a key." his short temper only rose at the sight of her. Zim, on the other hand, disregarded her completely, now removing his dirt-covered contacts and throwing them over towards the wig- his poor aim causing one to instead fly at the television screen, ricocheting off it onto the ground and the other flying off in the direction of the kitchen.

"Back door." Gaz replied simply, picking up a soda from the coffee table her booted feet were resting on and taking a sip from it, her attention going back to the T.V. screen.

"GIR!" Zim yelled, his voice reverberating of the Base walls. A high pitched holler could be heard from somewhere above, followed by a rather loud explosion.

"We don't have a back door." Dib commented, confused.

Moments later Gir burst through the ceiling in a shower of wood, wires, plastic and confetti. He landed happily in the center of the room, his arms raised in victorious arrival- making a brief "Tada!" sound. The fact that he was facing Gaz immediately explained who the little show was for, however, she gave it as much attention as she had given Dib and Zim's entrance.

Dib swore under his breath angrily.

"As if we don't have enough to fix." He muttered, removing his filth-covered jacked and using the inside of it like a towel to remove the rest of the muck from his hair; then, tossing his jacket aside, slid against the nearby wall to the floor, where he continued to lean against while unbuckling his boots.

"GIR!" Zim hollered again, causing Gir to turn around curiously, as if Zim's yell had been a polite inquiry. "As you are the one responsible for the Computer's demise-and as it would normally be the Computer's duty to clean up this _filth_. _You_ will clean it yourself."

Gir giggled slightly, causing Zim to seethe at him.

"You find my orders amusing?" He threatened angrily. Gir giggled again.

"Dootie" He commented, then turned back to face Gaz, hopping on the table and beginning to dance. Gaz glared, irritated.

"You're blocking my view, go do what Zim said." Gaz commanded apathetically.

"Okie Dokie!" Gir said happily, hopping off the table and over to the ever growing pile of filth as Dib and Zim shed their excess layers of clothing. Dib glanced over at Gir as he scooped up the pile, singing to himself as he trotted out of the room.

"Well if Gir's doing that then one of us should be watching Tak." He commented irritably at Zim's negligence towards their momentarily confined guest and stood; walking over to one of the Lift doors and opening it, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. A few moments later, swearing could be heard from the other side of the door, along with a small amount of banging. Dib finally exited the lift angrily, stamping back into the living room and shooting Zim a look of pure venom.

"Well, there goes the lift." He said bitterly, walking over to the other lift door and poking his head inside. After a moment of examination he sighed, still clearly distraught, but slightly less so that before. "Well, at least the one down to the base works." He muttered, walking over to the armchair and plopping himself on it, too tired to get any more worked up. Gaz glanced at him curiously, his words sparking her interest.

"How long has your Computer been inactive?" She asked curiously, setting her soda aside.

"Two months." Dib growled quietly, closing his eyes. He didn't even want to think about how they were supposed to get that heap of metal down to the base.

"And you haven't _done_ anything about it?" Gaz pressed on. That got Dib's attention, and his eyes shot open, glaring at his sister furiously.

"You think we haven't tried? It's a complex machine Gaz- you can't just flip a switch and miraculously fix it! You have to realize that this is _advanced Irken technology_- which happens to be incredibly vital to the operation of our home- even our _plumbing_ doesn't work!" Dib exclaimed, his retort turning into a vent of frustration as his target audience reverted from Gaz to himself.

Zim had followed Gir out of the room after a moment, and could now be heard yelling at him, though his words were muffled by the walls between them. Gaz sighed, shaking her head and standing.

She wordlessly walked over to the lift that lead to the lower bowels of the Base and closed the door behind her; closing out Zim's screams and Dib's rant. Sometimes she missed when they were rivals- it was far more trying dealing with both of them at once.

Dib gasped for breath a few minutes later, opening his eyes and looking around to discover that he was the only one left in the living room. He scowled slightly; naturally Gaz had left right before the most important part of his lecture- as she always did. He sighed, grabbing the remote and turning off the TV, then leaned back for a few more moments, attempting to enjoy the rare silence, seldom found underneath that roof. At this thought his eyes drifted back to the gaping hole in the ceiling, his mind wandering back to the thought of Tak upstairs…though, if she were as smart as he recalled, she would have taken the opportunity to leave the premises as soon as possible. It wasn't completely unlikely; there were a few windows on that floor that made the neighboring roofs easily accessible…he should probably mention the design flaws to Zim…though the last time he mentioned anything of the sort to him, Zim panicked and relocated the entire Base. Already, since Dib had lived with Zim, the Base had been relocated four times; and there were only so many college campuses in the city. Not that either of them went to college. Dib tried- and Zim tried mainly out of spite to Dib. In fact, if it weren't for Zim's obsession of continually trying to surpass Dib, he likely wouldn't have graduated Hi Skool…then again, neither would Dib.

Because of their competitive nature they both graduated at the top of their class; and were a shoo-in for any University they wanted. Dib sprung immediately for the best, but, was unaware of their thorough screening process, and unfortunately for him, while his grades improved tremendously, especially in Hi Skool, his reputation was tarnished by his outstanding number of past psychiatrists, and criminal record, which covered everything from hijacking a school bus, to infiltrating high security government agencies (such as NASA Place) on numerous occasions.

Dib's thoughts were distracted by the sudden sound of the second lift spurring into life. He glanced over at the closed door curiously, the churning calming into a hum. Seconds later, a louder clanking noise accompanied it; though this much louder noise came from above. He looked up, seeing, to his amazement, the bent and tattered pipes and wires now stretching to cover up the hole- around five thin robotic hands swiftly darting around, the sounds of drilling and welding filling the Base as the hole was slowly repaired.

Moments later, the first lift's door opened and Gaz walked out of it, immediately looking up at the large hole in the ceiling, a small, wry smile briefly crossing her face before she turned to open the other lift door, stepping inside briefly to examine the lift's interior. Seeming satisfied, she stepped out and walked back over to her favored section of the couch, grabbing the remote and switching on the TV. It seemed to now be fully functioning, to Dibs utter astonishment.

"Gaz, what did you-"

"Shh!" Gaz replied, her eyes now fixed on the screen.

After a moment Dib concluded that he wouldn't be able to get an explanation and gave up, getting up from the couch and turning to the lifts.

"I should probably see if Tak's escaped…" He muttered, however, there was no sound from his sister to indicate that she'd even heard him, so without another word he stepped into the lift for upstairs.

To Dib's surprise, Tak was still where he'd left her, though now lying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, as opposed to being tied up on the ground.

Gir, naturally, had given up his post long ago, but that was all Dib could expect from the robot.

"You're still here." He blurted out, causing Tak's antennas to perk up, followed by the rest of her body, elevating to a sitting position. She fixed him with her usual cold stare; her deep violet eyes seldom blinking.

"'course I'm still here- where else would I go?" she replied as coldly as she looked. Dib shifted his stance awkwardly, it seemed like such an obvious answer.

"uh- out? Away- anywhere?"

Tak only smirked.

"How would that benefit either of us? If I want you to trust me, it would do very little good to be jumping out the window- if there was one." She added bitterly. "Lovely place you have here- especially this room- I'm not sure what disturbs me more- the drawings on the wall or the fact that it was here before I was. Do you make it a habit to take prisoners?" She asked lightly, though she noted immediately that at the mention of the room Dib's presence had gone from awkward to grim and serious.

"No." was his short reply, which only peaked Tak's curiosity more; causing her to continue to provoke him.

"I find that hard to believe- this room seems to have no ulterior purpose apart from preventing escape- it can't possibly be yours or Zim's room- for one thing, it's far too barren to be yours, and Irkens sleep entirely differently.

"We found your ship where you said it would be." Dib replied, coldly. Tak frowned, irritated, but allowed him to change the subject.

"Of course you did."

"And we've decided to trust you."

Tak snorted.

"A bit of a contradiction from your previous statement seconds ago."

Dib's eyes narrowed.

"Yes, well you being here _confirms_ that we can trust you."

"We?" Tak asked skeptically, smirking. "So you've finally broken them?"

Dib paused, not sure how to respond. Tak grinned maliciously.

"So _you've_ decided to _force_ them into trusting me."

"Look, " Dib began, having lost patience with Tak, "if we're going to do _anything_ at all, we need your help. While _none_ of us may _completely_ trust you, we believe the basis of your story and want to help."

Tak continued to smirk, Dib glared.

"Don't try to act noble- I am very aware of your reasons for going and none of them are even remotely as selfless as you imply."

"Not every species out there is as selfish as you are Tak!" Dib snapped angrily, causing Tak to laugh.

"You poor, stupid human- yes, you are. They _all_ are- all the semi- competent races anyway. It's a defense mechanism; I told you, nobility is a human concocted concept to thin out the species by indicating that to be self-sacrificing is an admirable trait. However, in reality, humans are one of the _most_ selfish species. Otherwise they wouldn't speak and think in first person."

"But I-"

"Ah.." Tak said quietly in amusement, "Exhibit A."

Dib glowered at her, nearing the last straw.

"Fine. Prove it. What are our "selfish" reasons."

Tak smirked again- an expression of superiority that was beginning to drive Dib to the edge.

"Well that's the easy part. For Zim, like any Irken, he is driven by revenge. He despises the Resisty, as do I, for eliminating our race and we would do anything to see them suffer; it's in our blood. For you, while you claim to be all noble and self-sacrificing, saving your planet from _evil aliens_- a magnificent "role model" for your species," Tak added sarcastically, " the truth of the matter is that you've been waiting for an opportunity like this since you were a child. From what I had previously deducted from your character, you have been seen as an outcast for quite some time. Your tales of "Paranormal Activity" laughed at and scrutinized by others. Imagine the notoriety you would receive for saving Earth from aliens. No one would scrutinize you then- and your father would finally be proud of your conquests- finally acknowledge your existence, admit that "Paranormal Studies" is "real science". After all, he always seemed to like your sister more than you- everyone does, even your best friend."

"SHUT UP! You- you"

Tak laughed patronizingly at the infuriated Dib, who was struggling to find words, his hand still clasped on the doorknob, long forgotten, was now tensed, his knuckles white.

"Ah, I seem to have struck a nerve." She calmly stated, amused. "Now your sister," she continued, "her motivation is a bit more difficult to decipher…"

"Gaz isn't going." Dib interrupted firmly; prying his fist from the doorknob and folding his arms.

"Oh, I believe she will." Tak retorted with a knowing glance. "After all, she seems to have a peculiar pull on you- far more control than the free will of a caring brother…tell me, have you ever, once, said "no" to her?"

Dib had had enough. It was rare that he found himself almost completely incapable of controlling his temper- in fact, it was rare he had one- but with her he found himself unable to stay in the room much longer- an affect Tak seemed to be relishing.

"This is her room, isn't it?" Tak asked quietly, her voice so calm and mocking that Dib found himself shaking with the suppression of rage. "These drawings must be hers then; they're quite demented. That seems about right- she never seemed too mentally stable."

"We're leaving in a week, so make yourself comfortable until then. Shouldn't be hard- I saw the inside of that shithole you call a ship- compared to that this is a five star suite." Dib spat, turning and slamming the door behind him, locking it.


	11. 11 Departure

**Author's Note: I've had this chapter written for a few months now, but I've been going back and forth on whether or not to publish it because it's a bit...well demented? And controversial. The same thing happened when I added the chapter "The Surgery" and you realize this isn't a cute, random, dorky tv-show episode and things get real. For now it's still rated T, however, I'm putting an R rating on this chapter for disturbing scenes, mild language and brief sexual references (in conversation specifically). Please don't be too harsh in the comments section- just trying to get them off Earth, I promise next chapter they will be. **

"How are the repairs coming?" Dib asked loudly, entering the room, not looking up from the large, flat electronic device he held in his hand. Every once in a while he would prod it with a finger, seeming distracted. The sound of a blowtorch filled the room, reverberating off the metallic outer shell of the moderately sized ship. The idea had been brought to Zim and Dib's attention to simply combine the more functional parts of the individual ships into one, slightly larger ship. After much thought and consideration from Dib, Gaz proceeded with the procedure without his consent, which he learned of later that day.

The blowtorch stopped shortly after his inquiry; Gaz rolling out from underneath the propped up ship on a wooden mechanic cradle to glance at him irritably.

"Repairs have been done for three days Dib." She replied, sitting up and removing her goggles. Her face and clothing were heavily splattered with grease, her hair tied up so as not to get in the way. Despite her attitude towards Dib, she seemed to have been rather enjoying herself this past week, working on the ship day and night, giving it the stubborn attention and determination she used to save only for video games, and now exclusively for her artwork. She skipped classes completely, and rarely left the room, not even to eat. In fact, if it weren't for one of them bringing down food for her, she likely wouldn't have eaten at all.

Generally it ended up being Gir who did the task, having been an enthusiastic, and surprisingly competent assistant to Gaz throughout the week. Dib and Zim were far too preoccupied with other preparations; Zim was mysteriously elsewhere for the majority of the operation, only appearing on occasion whenever he needed to speak to Dib, or during the early stages of the operation, he would visit the Ship room very late at night, when he believed no one was around, only to find Gaz there and quickly hurry out. Dib, meanwhile, was practically glued to his MiFlat.

Gaz's words succeeded, however, in grasping his attention. His head immediately shot up, frowning in confusion.

"What do you mean they've been done? If they're done, why are you still working on it?"

Gaz sighed in exasperation.

"I'm not going to fly in something I think has any risk of failing. It was flyable three days ago, but not up to my standards. I've been giving it a full look-over to make sure it's perfect."

"Gaz, you're not going." Dib replied with a sigh himself, looking back down at his MiFlat. It had been a frequently repeated mantra of his that entire week, of which Gaz had completely disregarded with as much stubbornness as she had had with the project. For the first time since he had started proclaiming it however, Gaz retorted.

"Shut up and listen for once in your life Dib." she spat angrily, standing. Dib gave the slightest flinch at her raised voice but attempted to conceal any emotion behind the calm expression he gave her as he looked back up, uneasily meeting her sharp gaze. "Both you _and_ Zim know I'm a better pilot and mechanic than either of you. Sure you two are good with all that science crap, but you both suck when it comes to taking actual action."

"Gaz, it's too dangerous, I'm not going to have your life risked on alien planets-"

Gaz snorted, interrupting him.

"_My_ life at risk? I'm more than proficient in _ten_ different martial arts, fencing, archery, and can easily manage any artillery, Irken or otherwise, so don't give me crap about that- you two couldn't fight your way out of a refrigerator box."

"You put a _wolverine_ in it!"

"It went down in one hit." Gaz brushed aside offhandedly.

"That's beside the point- Gaz, you don't want to go with us, that isn't the place for you out in space-"

"HOW WOULD YOU KNOW!" Gaz suddenly snapped, her voice a whip cracking. Dib jumped, startled by her sudden outburst. "You think I belong _here? _With _these_ people? With those staggering _morons_ that pollute the city? Wandering from place to place like mindless zombies, following the thoughts and feelings projected upon them by those who hardly know how to control themselves, let alone the masses- listening to logic that only makes sense to them! I'm not _like_ them Dib- You understand that, don't you? You should know better than anyone..." She trailed off, quietly, looking down at the ground, her hand grasping her opposing arm in a vulnerable stance completely unlike her. "Please don't leave me with them." She muttered quietly, "I don't belong here, I've never belonged here. What am I supposed to do with myself if the only two in existence with an intelligence level matching my own go away? I'll have no one left. I'll just be in that house, alone." There was an odd sound emitting from her, her inflections were all off...they didn't sound angry anymore, as he was used to, and he couldn't identify what exactly was happening until he heard a very quiet sniffle.

He felt as though his heart had stopped from fear.

She was crying. _Gaz_ was crying- not once had he ever witnessed her cry, not even as an infant; back then she would simply stare at him silently while he tried to play with her, her deep purple eyes fixed on him intelligently, as though even back then she knew what was going on.

He immediately felt the intense urge to flee, uncertain how else to react to it. But after some quick contemplation he realized that would be an unwise decision and instead attempted the act of comforting her.

"Uh...what about Dad? He'll be around-"

"He's _never_ been around Dib! Not even when we were kids! You know that." She retorted, her rage intermingling with her tears, the familiar tone making him feel a little more comfortable.

"He was...sometimes..." Dib tried to reply, but found his efforts only halfhearted. He felt as though he knew better than anyone how distant their father could be. Gaz might complain, but he'd always felt that their Dad had favored her over him and tended to show her much more attention. Or maybe, now that he thought about it, it was just because she was home more...

"But he'd be upset, wouldn't he? If you left?"

Gaz shrugged, having calmed down, returning to a more familiar stance of crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"He probably wouldn't notice."

Dib frowned.

"Well isn't he upset about me going?" Gaz shrugged again.

"He doesn't know."

Dib looked dumbfounded.

"But I _told_ him. When did you last talk to him?"

"Yesterday."

"I told him _four_ _days _ago." Dib replied, a bit disappointed.

"Well you know how he is- always wrapped up in his latest project, never showing any interest for anything else until it's finished-"

"-only to find interest in a new project almost immediately after." Dib finished bitterly. Gaz smirked.

"Small window."

"And even then, he doesn't listen." Dib muttered morosely. Gaz let go of her arm, standing up straight, taking off her gloves and wiping her face; after which she walked over to Dib and gave him a brief pat on the shoulder.

"Well you're doing somethin he'll never do." She reassured with a small grin. "You're going off on a spaceship to fight aliens." She said with a brief laugh.

"Living the dream." Dib replied in mild amusement, looking up at his sister. Her eyes were a bit red and puffy still, her face slightly tear stained. He took a deep breath, exhaling and forcing a reluctant grin.

"You'll have tonight to get anything you need from the house; we'll leave tomorrow- if my assumption is correct that everything's pretty much in order?"

Gaz allowed herself a brief, relieved smile; another rare sight that was slightly less daunting than her crying.

"I'm going then?" She asked, folding her arms once more, an eyebrow raised in skepticism. Dib sighed.

"Of course you are. When will the ship be done?"

"Told you, it's already done." Gaz replied, replacing her gloves and goggles. "Just glancing it over to make sure everything's working properly. Nearly done."

"Alright then, so it'll be fine by tomorrow?"

"It'll be fine in an hour." Gaz replied, sitting back down on the cradle, grabbing her blowtorch and lying down, sliding back underneath. Dib stood there for a moment, wanting to say more, but not being sure what exactly to say. Gaz's blowtorch began to fill the room with noise again and Dib decided against it, turning and leaving; wondering offhandedly how Zim would react to the news.

The house was deathly quiet, twilight peeking out from the thin, frayed curtains, bathing the room in a fading light that could be perceived as gentle. Gaz saw otherwise however.

She let out a melancholy sigh as she glanced over the room, leaning against the closed front door. She let her bag drop to the floor, inhaling another deep breath of the dusty air.

It had been awhile, since anyone besides her had entered this place.

She hated coming back here...

She abandoned her bag at the door and swiftly trudged across the living room, eyes straight ahead, down the hall and turning thoughtlessly into her own bedroom.

Not much had changed over the years...

All the decorations from her childhood still hung wearily from her walls; her blanket still the same pale pink design, her stuffed animals still resting on their shelves- though they hardly were active anymore since she stopped tending to them. Occasionally she'd hear a crack of a fried wire or an electronic buzz as one attempted to turn it's head, but nothing more. She knew she should just shut them down but she had never gotten around to that either.

The only change seemed to be the numerous paintings that filled her room- many hanging, some on her shelves, and some just resting against the walls, waiting to be moved. They made her feel a bit calmer as she sat down on her bed, gazing at them in almost a trance. Most were obscure depictions of violence in one creative form or another. Some manifested as beasts, some as more graphic scenes, and some just as violent colors. Not all were violent though, rather, they seemed to embody every emotion she had felt at the time of painting them. They were her soul, on paper.

She sighed, this time a slightly more relaxed sigh; leaning back to lie on her bed, closing her eyes. So many memories flooded this house, and no amount of paintings could ever cover them up.

She could recollect her childhood with surprising accuracy, especially since she had hidden away from it behind game consoles and books. An entire lifetime spent with morons. They surrounded her at every turn, filling schools and office buildings, buses, cars and taxis. They worked in every store, at every corner, all with their stupid, drooling, blank faces and their obnoxious voices. To hold a conversation with one was impossible. A world of sheep, too stupid to notice all the numerous disasters ever to strike Earth; too blind to see how close they were every day to causing their own destruction. As a child it was worse, seeing all those people, she was terrified she would one day become one. She would constantly wonder, where her intelligence would go- where there's had gone. It wasn't until Hi Skool that she realized that that was it. It wasn't just her grade, it wasn't just her school. They were _all_ that way. Apart from, what seemed to be, herself, Dib, and on occasions, their father, no one on Earth seemed to realize _anything_. She could see all their faces in her mind's eye, all those blank stupid faces, swarming around her, pressing against one another, more and more. She was once more filled with the unsettling turmoil that seemed to envelope her whenever she was here, the faces pressing down on her, paralyzing her limbs, crushing her lungs, trying to smother her-She wanted to make them stop- she wanted to wipe those stupid smiles of their _stupid_ faces! She wanted to grab one by the neck and snap it, or shoot one, just to make them stop looking at her with those cow-eyes; all innocent and stupid and so willing to die!

"Stop looking at me!" She spat angrily, sitting up, opening her eyes. They were in her bedroom now, surrounding her bed, every crack blocked off by their putrid sweaty pink flesh.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" She yelled, this time with more force. They continued to stare at her, unfazed, with those stupid smiles on their faces. She was beginning to feel claustrophobic as they seemed to be leaning forward, all staring at her, with their stupid giant grins.

"_LEAVE ME ALONE!_" She screeched viciously, spotting a knife beside her on the bed. She picked it up without thinking and began slashing away at them, full force. To her surprise, she made contact with one immediately in front of her, her knife slicing through his throat smoother that she would have imagined, though, at the same time, rougher. She felt a flood of relief as the figure fell to the ground in a bloody, crumpled heap. She swung again at another, a shower of blood gushing out of its gaping wound, falling on her like warm rain. She found the sensation oddly comforting and pressed onward in a blind fury, beaming widely as she sliced away at each and every figure until they had all fallen to the floor and she was sticky with their blood.

Her breath had become ragged, total exhilaration flooding her like she had never felt before. She had never before felt so liberated, so free!

She closed her eyes, basking in the sensation...

Only to open her eyes, realizing that she was still lying down on her bed.

It was full dark now, only the slightest hint of moonlight peeked into her bedroom, giving her enough light to barely see by.

She sat up. Her heart was still beating wildly. She took a few deep breaths, looking around to confirm her location.

After a moment she got off her bed, standing and walking over to the light switch, flicking it on. She stared at the wall for a moment, or rather, her hand on the wall. If she was quiet enough, she could have sworn she could make out voices...far away, murmured voices, but a voice, at least one...

She immediately sprung into action; silently darting to her bed and grabbing the metal bat from beneath it.

She winced slightly as she grabbed it, and paused, looking down at her hand to notice a thin, fresh cut there, still bleeding. She frowned at it for a moment, knowing there was no time to be worrying about when she had injured herself, and instead, fought through the stinging and got into attack stance as she approached the door; noting the new spot of blood on the wall where her hand had been.

She left the room without a second glance at her room, passing right by the paintings she had previously placed leaning against the walls, having nowhere to hang them; a single slash mark in each and every single one...

Tak lied on the bed, staring at the walls fixedly. She had nothing but the company of all those paintings while she was in there, and while unfazed at first, she could feel now that they were starting to get to her. They varied in design; at first she thought they were all obscure compilations of colors, but once she actually bothered to look, she realized many of them were detailed scenes. She had seen them all now from every angle, and knew that each had been done with great care and precision. There were no accidents, each mark was purposeful. They really _were_ demented, she hadn't been lying about that. Many were of common violent scenes: frequently of people, horribly tormented in one instance or another, always close to the inevitable. Others had no people but were of objects, some normal, some usual devices; either way though, all had a very clear indication that hung around them. What made them all so unusual was the colors she used. All bright and out of character for the scenes; nothing generally every matching what it should be- except the blood. The blood always matched- a deep, vibrant, yet dark red.

There were the less common occurrences on the walls too-these were the slightly larger pictures that the small pictures of violence seemed to branch off of. Tak had to admire her creative ingenuity. At first she hadn't understood, looking at the pictures individually they all seemed fragmented. Just random groupings of black and white blobs. However, when you looked at them in full, you realized that it was more than that. She had created some sort of beast, its tentacles sliding in and out of the frames, half in view, half in obscurity. Eyes peeked out in some of them, staring at her fixedly, seeming to watch and judge her every move. One thing all the beast's tentacles had in common was their target. They emitted from the walls at random, but they all went towards one thing in particular...

The center portrait on the wall across from her was without doubt the focal point, and the largest painting in the room. It was also, by far, the most confusing. With it's combination of blurred and sharp lines, it was indicated that maybe even Gaz wasn't quite sure of what she was painting. The tips of the tentacles all reached into the picture, causing a frame within a frame. They curled and twisted, surrounding the painting's subject, but not a single one dared to touch it.

The center of the painting was what Tak found unnerved her. At first she thought, like the many others, it was just a number of black blotches. However, after being forced to stare at it for so long, she finally saw what it was...

A person stood in the center of the vertical frame, their face blank apart from two lines that could have been closed eyes. Their hair was difficult to determine and seemed to blur away, along with their torso, which seemed to be completely covered in black- it could have been a dress or a coat, she couldn't tell, she couldn't even determine the person's gender- if they had one. All she knew was that even _she_ felt a twist of fear whenever she stared at it too long, and it was the one thing in the room that was close to driving her insane.

One-hundred and forty-four hours...or averaged to that time. If she were to go off of Dib's claim, they would be leaving soon, within twenty-four more hours...perhaps tomorrow, or that morning- she couldn't really tell the time of day in that windowless room, and any Irken technology that could have informed her was confiscated from her before they locked her up.

She hadn't seen anyone since then; likely because Zim had informed Dib of the Irken resilience to starvation. They weren't like humans, needing to eat daily, so no meals were ever brought to her. Even as she attempted to pity herself, she knew it was true. An Earth week had nearly gone by and she wasn't even beginning to feel any pangs of hunger.

One-hundred and forty-five.

When would she see his face again?

She would have to control herself. By now she wanted nothing more than to kill him herself, in all disregard of the consequences. Or, if anything, she wanted to cause him some pain- she wanted to lock him up in this room and force _him_ to look at these paintings. These sick, demented paintings, made by a clearly sick, demented individual.

She couldn't even sleep.

Irkens slept a bit differently, and in times of great distress, when faced with enemies, an Irken didn't sleep at all, as a natural, self-preserving defense. It was a real nuisance as while her mind knew they weren't going to kill her, her body felt less comforted and without sleep, she had nothing to pass her time more quickly.

So, instead, she was forced to merely lie or sit there, counting the hours; counting the hours so she wouldn't lose herself completely.

One-hundred and forty-six.

Had it been that long already?

Either way, only a few more hours to go...

Dib finally found Zim on the roof, sitting and staring up at the stars. It had been a habit of his ever since the surgery- or so Dib assumed. Dib was very similar, and that was how he had first learned of the habit, when they had moved in together. Dib had gone up to the roof to stargaze to find Zim already there.

He knew of course it was for two entirely different reasons. For Dib, it was a constant longing. To go out and see those other worlds he knew existed. It had been a dream since childhood, to discover alien life, to see it all. His desire only increased once Zim appeared- proof that it wasn't all wishful thinking. For Zim, he knew, his motivations were different.

When Zim stared up at the sky, he wasn't longing for the new, undiscovered galaxy, he was longing for home. His race had been destroyed, he had been forced into exile here on this distant planet, unable to ever return to the home he knew.

In essence though, when he thought about it, they both stared at the stars for the same reason...

they both wanted to be out there.

Even under the wig, Dib knew his antenna twitched.

He sat up immediately, looking behind him to note Dib's presence.

"Oh." He said, identifying him, then turning back to what he was doing.

"Where you expecting someone else?" Dib asked, raising an eyebrow. Zim didn't respond.

He walked up to him, sitting beside him and also staring up at the stars.

"Tomorrow's the big day." He said with a sigh of happiness, however Zim still didn't respond. Dib glanced over at him, but his eyes were fixed up at the stars, completely unresponsive. Dib sighed once more, this time in dread, he might as well just say it.

"Gaz is coming."

That got his attention, not only did it snap his gaze away from the sky, it caused him to sit up, looking at Dib intently.

"She is not." He countered, stern. Dib gave him a strained smile of discomfort as he replied.

"Yeah, that's what I told her, but, well, you know how she is."

"She is not accompanying us, it is too dangerous and would lead to unnecessary baggage and concern."

"She's not gonna take up that much space- and as she pointed out, she can handle herself pretty well."

Zim's eyes narrowed.

"It is not a question of competence. You do not comprehend what lies past Earth- it is not humans we will be battling. Your sister may be fully adept to vanquishing Human scum, however, there are many creatures out there that are far less weak."

"That doesn't exactly reassure me about _our _survival..." Dib commented a bit uneasily. "We're not like Gaz, if she can't handle it, how can we?"

"Perhaps _you_ can't handle it, foolish hominoid- however, they are no challenge for Zim!" He declared, only a shadow of his prior enthusiasm. He had become a lot more subdued over the years, perhaps it was the surgery, or perhaps the loss of his species. Or maybe it was just the fact that he had been on Earth so long, aged like the rest, became warn by the daily stresses of humanity, as everyone else had. When it came down to it, Dib wondered if it was just because Zim was now more human?

Dib smirked.

"It's a wonder you're allowing _me _to go at all."

Zim's attention had gone back up to the stars.

"Self-proclaimed propriety tends to lead creatures to delusions of entitlement." He commented thoughtfully. Dib smirked.

"Well it _is_ half my ship." He replied.

"Precisely. Thus the entitlement." Zim responded. "It is the same with Tak."

"Tak also is _leading_ us to the Resisty." Dib reminded. Zim growled.

"_Tak_ could be a Resisty _spy, _sent to Earth to lure the last of the Mighty Irken Empire to his doom." He spat, his eyes narrowing.

"Is that what you've been worrying about. The House's already scanned her- she's the real one." Dib reassured, however Zim was unconvinced.

"I acknowledge the datum that I have been present on Earth copiously longer than originally anticipated; when I departed, I possessed the finest in advanced Irken technology. However, due to the surmountable amount of time passed, I can no longer assume that more advanced technology does not exist. It is certain that technology has since then progressed."

Dib frowned, a bit swayed by Zim's argument, however, he quickly brushed aside his doubts.

"A simple identity scan seems pretty fool proof- you should stop seeing Tak as the enemy and realize that she's exactly the same as you."

"DO NOT COMPARE ZIM TO THAT _VILE_….._DEFECTOR_!"

Dib snorted incredulously.

"Zim, she's not _that bad_-"

"Fool!" Zim exclaimed, turning accusatorily towards him, "stop succumbing to your mammalian drive and realize that it is impeding on your analytical observations!"

"What?" Dib asked a bit confused. Zim scoffed.

"You are blinded by your inferior Human brain." Zim shook his head patronizingly, "do you not see that as we speak your brain is presently being _injected_ with dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin and _pheromones_? It is the biggest flaw of your species, these chemicals- combined together and released relentlessly to obstruct the judgment of the most level-headed- of which you are not."

Dib's eyes narrowed.

"What are you saying, Zim?" He asked, however, Zim ignored him and continued his tangent.

"-yet it is to be expected- another flaw to the anatomical makeup of the humanoid species is its delusional subconscious desire to mate with extreme diversity to strengthen the species- which would explain the race's infatuation with fictional sub-species of humans."

"_**Zi**__**m**_!" Dib growled irritably, "_What_ are you trying to insinuate?"

Zim frowned, truly puzzled.

"Do you still not comprehend? Your original nostalgia, elongated over a surmountable amount of time, likely coupled with the sexual frustration built up over the years due to lack of partners would lead you to glorifying your primary experience in what you believed to be a romantic encounter with "Tak", which overshadows any possible negative conclusions you would be capable of perceiving had you not developed such an inconvenient infatuation."

Dib stared at him completely and absolutely dumbfounded.

"Are you saying…" He started slowly, indignant rage building up by the second as Zim's implications sunk in, "that the _only reason_ I could _possibly_ view Tak as a good person, is because I have _feelings_ for her?"

"She isn't a person, she's Irken." Zim corrected, only fueling Dib's rage.

"You've _got_ to be _kidding me_!" He exclaimed angrily, standing, "Are you honestly so _stupid?_ That you can't comprehend that maybe, _jus__t maybe_, I trust her because she _is_, as I've stated, _not out to kill you_- you paranoid little- and what the _hell_ gives _you_ the right to talk about _my_ sexlife? Where the hell did _that_ come from! Is this some sort of built up resentment you've been holding against me for who knows what reason? Come on!" He was pacing, angrily now. Words had completely escaped him and he found himself unable to do anything for a while in retort but let out a few more angry exclamations before he finally gave up on talking sense into Zim, knowing that if he stayed there any longer he would probably punch him.

Zim, unalarmed by his reaction, watched calmly as he stormed off, turning his attention back to the sky.

"_Stupid Humans…"_


End file.
